The Keyblade Master Chronicles
by Magical Girl Pretty Sammy-Chan
Summary: Sora: Missing, Kairi: Kidnapped, Their only hope: their three children who have been given the power of the Keyblades. Through their journies, the children will learn the worlds' most important truths about frienship, love, and light. R&R!
1. Level One: The Awakening

The Keyblade Master Chronicles 

A/N's: Hey everyone! This is a fic I wrote a while back! Like when I was 11! O-o I hope it's okay…I did some editing. I found this piece and decided to post it. Hope you all like it!

Level One- The Awakening.

(Theme Music _Simple and Clean_ starts to play as we see three children falling in water, for a strange reason, smiling. One, a girl and the other two, boys. )

"We've been having these strange memories lately."

" memories…"

"lately…"

"Like was any of that for real or not?"

"…not?"

(The three children keep falling in the water, yet they open their eyes. The theme _Simple and Clean_ starts to pick up speed now. )

_You're giving me too many things  
Lately you're all I need  
You smiled at me and said,  
_

(The three kids appear on the sunny beach of their home and in the water they see their mother who is welcoming them joyfully. They run out to her but notice a huge wave coming over. They reach out for their mother's hand but it's too late, she's swept away from them and they are forced from her, yet grab onto one other.)

_Don't get me wrong I love you  
But does that mean I have to meet your father?  
When we are older you'll understand  
What I meant when I said "No,  
I don't think life is quite that simple"_

(The three children get plunged deeper into the water. Finally, they find themselves getting up out of the water to see their drenched mother smiling at them. They run to her but the girl notices something sparkling out on the sea and runs out to it, her brothers in hot pursuit.)

_When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go_

(The girl finds the sparkling thing to be a rock that scratches her hand making it bleed. The blood drips down into the sea. The rock falls with the blood. Her brothers come out to her to see their mother is gone. )

_Wish I could prove I love you  
But does that mean I have to walk on water?  
When we are older you'll understand  
It's enough when I say so  
And maybe some things are that simple_

(They run back to see their father with their mother and they run to them, laughing. The parents await them but then look into the sky and gasp. )

_Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before_

(In the sky are the three siblings falling. The kids look up in horror as they themselves are being pulled into the water. They disappear, their parents reaching out to them. )

_Nothing's like before…_

Before they knew what was happening, the three children were plunged downward and landed softly on what seemed to be nothing at all. But after a few moments, the children gasped as hundreds of white doves flew around them to reveal the floor was a stained glass picture of a teenaged girl with short red hair and a purple skirt. The three children sat dumb struck as they watched the doves fly peacefully away.

They heard a voice. "Walk forward," it said. The three children, without knowing what they were doing did as they were told only to have a great wind come up and sweep them in three separate directions. The youngest, the girl reached out her hand but was pulled apart too fast.

* * *

When the three all opened their eyes, they were in the same place only without their siblings. There was no sign of struggle, as if they had been there all along. They heard and saw three pedestals come up. The pedestals held a sword, a shield, and a magic staff. Then the same voice spoke again. "Choose you path well."

The young girl looked around at the items and ran for the one in front of her: the sword. She had to jump to reach it but once she had grabbed it she was caught in the wind again and was feeling the same rush that she did when she was separated from her siblings.

The middle boy was in the same room only, once again, alone. He looked around and saw that to his slight south east was a shield. He too heard the voice and grabbed the shield, again to be rushed away.

Finally, the oldest boy chose the magic staff with the strange shape on the top of it carved out of blue stone. They were all transported back together. Obviously, they were relieved to be together again, yet couldn't help showing off their weapons to one another. But they had little time to gloat as the floor underneath them began to break apart and they were plunged once again downward.

* * *

This time, their landing was a bit more graceful. They were in room in which on the floor there was a boy with white hair, a yellow colored top, and blue pants. Still, like the last stained glass floor, they did not recognize him. Once again, the voice spoke: it said, slowly and serenely, "Now you will learn to fight." Out of the ground came at least five black creatures, each with glowing yellow eyes and antennae. The trio all nervously drew their weapons and attacked. The girl was hit by one of the creatures only to destroy the Shadow after its attack with her sword. After seeing their one fallen comrade, the other shadows disappeared.

Again the floor shook and this time, it disappeared as they were transported to another room where the floor had no person but many hearts and other symbols. In this room there seemed to be a transparent door.

The youngest ran over to the door and tried to open it, to no avail. The other two tried it, but once again had no success. Behind them materialized a treasure chest and the oldest boy carefully opened it. In front of them a large crate appeared. The three looked at each other, slightly confused.

The youngest one shrugged and ran over to the crate. She quickly started to push it, but couldn't without the help of her brothers. She beckoned them over and they ran to her aid. Even when the three of them pushed it, it had no affect.

The middle child grew frustrated and raised his shield. He turned to the two other kids and they nodded, also drawing their weapons. They nodded their heads three times, and on the third time, brought their weapons down to smash the crate.

The door became more visible, and behind them materialized a barrel. The three looked at each other again, once more confused by the strange puzzle. The youngest one shrugged and walked over to the barrel, drawing her sword. She slashed it down, and the barrel broke apart.

A bright noise flittered behind them and the three saw that the door was now visible. The three smiled at one another, feeling as though they succeeded and ran over to the door. The girl grabbed the two large handles and opened the door as wide as it could go.

* * *

As the bright light that had flashed faded, outside they saw what looked like the laundry hanging spot on their island. In the well-known place were three people: one was a small girl who had on a yellow dress. The other was a small boy with messy blonde hair, and the last one was an older boy with red hair. They had never seen these people but they went up to them anyway, wondering if they had any information that might help them determine their whereabouts. The youngest girl of the trio talked to the younger girl.

"What's most important to you?" the girl in the yellow dress asked.

"Friendship," the female of the trio answered promptly.

"Is friendship really that important?" replied the girl.

The middle boy walked up to the messy haired boy.

"What are you most afraid of?"

"Being alone," answered the middle boy.

"Is being alone really that scary?"

The oldest one walked up to the red haired one.

"What do you want out of life?"

"To broaden my horizons," answered the older one.

"To broaden your horizons huh?" he answered.

They heard the mysterious voice again. "You want to broaden your horizons. You're afraid of being alone. You value friendship. Your path is set. Your journey starts midday. Keep a steady pace and you should be okay."

The children stared at each other, bewildered about what "journey" the voice was speaking of, but had no time to react as once again, a bright light shined, and they were whisked away.

* * *

The trio was once again transported to a stained glass floor room, but this one had a picture of two people. One was a duck and the other, a tall dog. They both strangely had clothes on and held weapons; a shield and a magic staff. Still, once again they had no time to admire the floor as out of it came the black shadowed creatures again.

This time they attacked with more confidence. As they were destroyed a green portal appeared and they stepped into it, recovering their strength. As they stepped out of it, a huge stained glass staircase appeared and they timidly walked up to it.

The older boy stepped on the first staircase, and motioned that it was all right to walk on it. The two others followed him. They walked slowly and carefully, making sure not to lose their footing on the staircase. The only thing below them was a black void that seemed to go on forever.

Finally, the three reached the top of the staircase, relieved to be off of the high height. As they all stepped onto the steady floor, they looked down at the elaborate glass that was beneath their feet.

This room had a floor with a boy with brown hair and large red shorts. His shoes were bright yellow and he seemed awfully familiar for some reason. He smiled cheerfully at them, his eyes blue and shining.

They heard the voice once more, and this time it scared them with its eerie connotation. It said, "The closer you get to the light the larger your shadow will be..."

They froze as their shadows grew into one and seemed to take a 3 dimensional shape. It formed into a huge muscular monster, it was horrid, at least 6 stories tall with a large hole for a heart. Its eyes glowed yellow and it had many antennae, like its hair. The trio looked horrified and tried to run but saw that they were fighting on a cylinder and there was nothing but the floor underneath their feet. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. They knew they had to fight.

As the youngest girl jumped forward with her sword, she slashed at the beast's hand and saw it cripple under the blow. The children looked at each other and knew…the weak point of the mammoth was his hand.

The huge dark thing seemed to gather energy in its hand and then, with great force, pushed it into the ground. A mighty wave of energy hit the oldest one sending him flying. The other two rushed to him but he assured them he was okay. Out of the place where the thing had put its hand came the shadowed creatures from before.

The three nodded to each other. The smaller creatures would only get in the way of their true objective. They rushed forward, each destroying the weaker creatures, then focusing on the prize at hand. They rushed forward and sliced the monster with tall their might.

The dark monster had now seemed to tear open its stomach to reveal a portal of blue light. The blue light turned into beams and flew out of the monster's chest straight at the children. The trio had no choice but to run. The youngest one was hit by one and her partners helped her to her feet until the onslaught stopped.

The battle continued that way. They got hits in until all hope seemed lost. Their power was critically low and the thing seemed still ready to fight. Then they saw the boy on the floor. His bright smile, jolly attitude, and bright eyes gave them strength and the power to keep going in the fight. They felt a jolt of light and energy. For some reason he gave them hope and with their last burst of energy they found words to describe their attacks. Their weapons began to glow brightly, and their spirits glowed brighter. They banded together and screamed:

"Firaga!" yelled the oldest one sending out a giant fire stream out of his magic staff.

"Tornado!" yelled the middle one spinning around and attacking with his shield.

"Sonic Blade!" yelled the youngest one and with all of her strength she plunged the sword into the thing's hand destroying it.

With the last of the beast's strength he plunged his hand into the ground and the trio saw themselves being sucked in by the darkness. They stretched their hands up but it was no use. But they heard the voice for the last time.

"But don't be afraid."

Still the dark energy surrounded them…

"You three hold the mightiest weapons of all."

They tried to breathe but it was no use…

"And don't forget."

They knew they couldn't get out…

"You are the one who will open the door."

And they felt themselves being drained into the darkness...

* * *

Oh…my…God…that…was…so…BAD!

Time to flame my OWN fic:

This first chapter has only bits and pieces of originality: the boss is the same, the weapons are the same, and the basic outline is the same. It's like the tutorial all over again.

There were SERIOUS mechanics problems before I edited it. There are probably still some little quirks…crap.

The writing, as a whole, isn't that great at all. Okay…it sucks. But hey, I was eleven! Oh well, that's my flame. There's probably way more.

The next chapter I HOPE will be SLIGHTLY better since I spent more time editing that one. Don't worry, by Chapter 3, the story will be back to my old writing skills.


	2. Level Two: Destiny Islands

Level 2- Destiny Islands 

Although their dream had been quite realistic, the three children were actually sleeping on the sandy beaches of Destiny Islands, their home. All in a line they soaked up the sun while lying on the white sand in front of the passing waves. Their wooden swords lay next to them, piled untidily

"Wake up lazy bums!" the three children heard someone say as they were hit over the head sharply by a harsh hand.

They looked up from their naps to see a woman in a bright, tight purple dress and a white hair ribbon to tie her long red hair in a ponytail. They knew the face and the phrase. Their mother, Kairi, always referred to them and their father as "Lazy bums."

"Aww mom," groaned Haru, the middle child, ruffling his dark brown hair that was, as usual, messy. The boy wore a long sleeved green shirt, a shorter sleeved lighter green shirt underneath and long forest green pants. He noticed another tear on his shirt and smiled innocently. Kairi eyed it suspiciously.

"I see you've been "playing" again," she said skeptically.

"Yep, sorry Mom," yawned Rion, the oldest, stretching his arms. His tidy, short, dirty blonde hair was full of sand, so he shook it off, making his mother cringe. He wore a no-sleeve navy blue top with two yellow straps that stretched vertical over it. He also had long baggy navy pants and armbands.

"I kicked Haru's butt in a duel!" smiled the youngest, Jila, mischievously. Jila had long light brown hair, hung loosely in a ponytail. She wore a red vest, a white tee-shirt, and khaki shorts. "You should have seen Ryoma's face when he saw Haru get kicked by a girl!"

"Don't make fun of your brother," scolded Kairi but still she smiled with amusement. Her face then turned more serious as she frowned. "I thought I told you guys to get some coconuts for dinner from the island out by the bridge?"

"Oh yeah well we got a little side tracked," smiled Jila, thinking of the duel and her victory.

"I'm sure," said Kairi, rolling her eyes slightly as she started to walk away from them. "You kids are just like your father," she turned around and winked. "And that's why I love you guys."

She left for their house on the other side of the island and the kids yawned and lay down on the seashore where they had been before.

"I guess we better get going huh?" asked Jila.

"Uh yeah I guess," frowned Haru.

"Mom did tell us," added Rion.

"Well," said Jila. "Guess there's only one thing to do." She got up and brushed herself off.

"What's that?" asked Rion.

She smiled and started to run. "LAST ONE THERE HAS TO DUEL ME!"

The boys looked at each other in disbelief and clumsily began to run after her. Soon they caught up, and Rion lifted her on his shoulders. They all laughed as they both collapsed on the sand.

* * *

Finally the kids reached the island, laughing playfully and pushing each other. They finally calmed down and started to gather the coconuts. Rion and Haru slashed trees with their swords, while Jila actually climbed the trees and started to pick.

"I had a super weird dream," said Jila reaching for a yellow coconut. The yellow ones were the best on the Destiny Islands. "We were all in it."

"Come to think of it so did I," sighed Haru as the another brown coconut fell.

"That's weird," said Rion collecting another yellow one thrown down by Jila. "By the looks of it we all had dreams."

"In mine," said Haru, "we all had to pick different weapons to fight with."

"Then we fought those creatures," added an astonished Rion.

"And then that huge black THING swallowed us up after we had defeated it," finished Jila. Soon the children realized, with a little excitement and a little horror, that they had all had the same dream.

"But then what did the voice mean when it said 'You are the one who will open the door'," said Haru mimicking the deep voice.

"Well we were all in the dream," analyzed Rion. "But it said 'You are the ONE' not the ONES."

"That means that it was speaking to only one of us," said Haru gathering the last coconut into the basket.

"Well that settles it then," smiled Jila jumping down from the tree.

"Settles what?" asked Rion.

"Settles the fact that," she paused and turned around to face her brothers. "It was obviously talking to me!"

"What?" yelled the two boys, turning to her.

She pulled down her eye socket and stuck out her tongue "Naaa!" she yelled and ran off her brothers in hot pursuit.

Jila kept running and laughing. She kept her head behind her so before she knew it, WHAM! she ran right into Wolfgang, the guy she had had a crush on since she was at least six.

"Oh Wolfgang," she quickly pulled herself up and tried to look as adult as possible; after all Wolfgang was 16, three years older then her.

"Hi Jila sorry 'bout that. I just came hear to talk to Rion, you know, see if he wants to race or something?" Wolfgang flashed his charming smile. He wore a white shirt with golden lining and long white pants. His wooden sword was on his belt. He ran his hand through his short black hair.

"Oh I'm sure he'd love to," smiled Jila, acting as the pleasing house wife.

Her brothers stopped behind her and grinned. Haru ran back to the island but Rion strode forward.

"Hey Wolfgang, what's going on?" he smiled and put his hand on Jila's shoulder. "You want to race or sumthin'?" he smiled. "Or are you hitting on my little sister here?"

Jila blushed furiously and kicked Rion in the shin.

Wolfgang laughed and threw back his head, "Reason 1 bro."

"Sure, whatever." Rion lifted himself off of Jila, still wincing from the pain. "But first, Haru's getting the last of the coconuts. "

Haru came running from the island with the basket of yellow coconuts. "Hey Wolfgang! Ooops!" Haru dropped the basket and its contents spilt all over the bridge. Jila froze. She knew that 'oops'. Haru used that 'oops' when he made a mistake on purpose. When he first used it everyone could tell that he had made the mistake on purpose but after almost ten years of training his 'oops' was completely real.

"Sorry 'bout that." Haru got down with Rion to pick up the coconuts, but under the last coconut was a strange star fruit. A paopu fruit.

"Hey how'd that get there?" asked Rion picking it up.

"Well I didn't put it there," said Haru.

"And I didn't put it there," said Rion.

Jila opened her mouth to say that she didn't put the fruit in the basket either but Rion interrupted her.

"Well if I didn't put it there," Rion sighed. "And you didn't put it there," he smiled the perfect revenge smile. "Then Jila must have put it there."

"But I..." Jila started but was again cut off, this time by Haru.

"But why would Jila need a paopu fruit? Do you perhaps know, Wolfgang?"

Jila blushed furiously and grabbed the fruit. "For your info I was hungry for something besides coconuts." She stuffed the entire fruit into her mouth and smiled a huge yellow smile.

Wolfgang laughed once again at the strange trio. "Hey Rion I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Yeah whatever," Rion smiled nonchalantly and waved toward Wolfgang as he turned around to face Jila, who was now blushing profusely.

Wolfgang walked off toward the cove and Jila managed to swallow the huge fruit. Gasping and puffing for breath she turned to her brothers.

"Serves you right!" they said in unison and ran off, Jila in hot and angry pursuit.

She drew her wooden sword and started trying to bop them on the head. They ran all across the beach and past the docks splashing water over Kaede.

"Hey!" she yelled throwing her brown hair back and forth to shake off the water. She looked sullenly at her bright pink skirt and hat, which were now drenched.

"Sorry Kaede!" yelled Haru who kept running. Or swimming. Haru was the best swimmer, so he easily out swam the rest of them. They splashed each other playfully in the salty ocean.

"You guys need some lessons in maturity," called Ryoma from the laundry hanging spot above them.

"Nahhh!" yelled Rion pulling down his eye socket and sticking out his tongue.

Ryoma scowled profusely. The three children looked at each other and at the same time used the base of their wooden swords to make a giant wave come up at Ryoma's face, soaking him. He shook his blonde haired head. "That's it, you're going down!"

Ryoma ran down and the three children got out of the water. "So which one of you wants to lose to me?" he said pulling out his blue wooden ninja stars.

They all looked at each other and huddled. They came out the huddle and turned to face the enraged wet ninja. Jila shook her head to Rion and said, "Rion." Rion stepped forward and drew his sword.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure," Ryoma nodded his head. "Battle start!"

Ryoma, already ready and pumped to take down Rion in his revenge, threw a ninja star and Rion, who had studied Ryoma's strategy, hit the stars right back at him. Each star made perfect contact with Ryoma's forehead.

"Owww..." groaned Ryoma. Rion ran up and did an amazing triple combo attack, sending Ryoma flying.

"Looks like I win again!" smiled Rion.

"Give it up Ryoma, we always win!" Jila stuck out her tongue. It was true. No fighter, except Wolfgang that is, stood a chance against the three children. Their father had trained them in the ways of fighting, and everyone on Destiny Islands knew of his skill.

"Oh you ALWAYS win?" the three children heard a voice from above them, speaking in a cocky manner. They turned around and saw Sora, their father, holding a wooden sword on his shoulder. He was tall, had spiky brown hair, and wore a red vest, red long pants, and a short white tee-shirt. He wore his usual crown necklace and fingerless gloves. "Well then you should have no trouble beating me."

Jila scowled. "Fine I'll fight you!"

"Come on," he smiled at his youngest, "All three of you at the same time."

"All right!" grinned Haru drawing his sword.

"But you asked for it!" yelled Rion, also getting ready to fight.

They got into fighting position and the three children yelled:

"Battle start!"

At the same time the three children rushed at their father. He waited until the last second then did an amazing high jump and hit them all across the back with one sweeping move. Their faces drove into the sand and they coughed it up as they got up.

"Looks like you need a bit more practice," smiled Sora. He tossed his sword at them. "C'mon it's getting dark, let's get home."

* * *

That night the whole island sat around a fire at the beach. They watched the tide come in as they ate dinner and listened to Sora, who every night marveled everyone with his stories of adventure and heroics.

"Tell us the one about how you defeated the evil witch Malefecent!" laughed Jila.

"No we've heard that one a thousand times!" Haru rolled his eyes.

"Tell us the one about how you defeated the fighter Cloud!" said Kaede.

"No, how 'bout the one about how you learned to fly!" said Rion.

Kairi smiled and put her hand on Sora's shoulder. "How 'bout the one how you fell in love with a beautiful woman and lived happily ever after?"

Sora smiled, "I like that one."

The children groaned. "Thanks mom, you wasted a whole night of cool stories." Haru rolled his eyes.

"Yeah that one's lame!" yelled Jila, narrowing her eyebrows. She obviously was not a girl who enjoyed romantics.

"Hey, I think it's the most important of all," smiled Sora and Kairi kissed him.

The kids waited for the two to stop as they kissed sweetly in front of the fire. Kaede blushed slightly and Ryoma rolled his eyes as the two finished.

"Okay you're done now so how 'bout a COOL story?" suggested Rion.

"All right I'll tell you the one about how my rival almost stole my legendary sword."

The kids listened to the story intently. Kaede bit her lip at the part where she learned that Sora had to fight with a wooden sword. And Ryoma "grrd" when he learned of the insult that Sora's rival had given him.

The kids all knew that Sora made up the fact that it was actually him in the stories. They didn't know where he got the stories but they didn't really care. All they knew was that every night he would have another story to tell.

"'My friends are my power!' I yelled and the legendary sword returned to me!" Sora yelled then sweat dropped to see that all of the kids had fallen asleep.

"Aww, did I bore them again?" yawned Sora.

"No it's just way past their bed time. I'll take Kaede, Ryoma, and Wolfgang home. You take care of our three little rascals," Kairi shook them and they woke up slightly and walked away hazily to their homes with Kairi.

Sora instead picked up his three kids who it took a horde of elephants to wake up and started walking for home. As he walked he looked up at the stars. He stopped suddenly as he thought he saw something.

He saw a star go out…

* * *

The next day Jila, Haru, and Rion, after waking up, went out to the dock where Kaede was sitting and enjoying the sun.

"Hey Kaede!" called Haru.

"Hey guys!" Kaede obviously wasn't mad about her skirt. "Guess what I just heard? Wolfgang's got a paopu fruit and says that he's going to race for it! You know how whoever he shares it with becomes part of his destiny forever!"

"So?" asked Haru although Jila was already heading toward the cove.

"He says that if a boy wins he'll give him the paopu fruit to share with someone else!" Haru ran off too.

"Still so?" asked Rion, yawning.

"Well if you don't want Wolfgang making a move on your sister I'd go win that race."

Rion ran too.

* * *

"Hey everyone!" laughed Wolfgang. "You all come to lose?"

"Cut the small talk and get to the race!"commanded Rion determined to protect his little sister from this way too old friend of his.

"All right if you want to!"laughed Wolfgang, his eyebrows raising in anticipation.

Ryoma was about to start the race. They all got in position. Everyone knew that falling through the bridge and taking the beach course was the fastest way but only so many people could do it without blocking each other.

"Go!" Ryoma started the raceand the foursped off. The boys all fell on the wooden platform but Jilajumped over them and kept ongoing on the bridge until she got to the rope that gotpassengers over to the other side of the track.

The boys kept pushing and shoving on the beach course as Jila landed on the hill and went up. The boys caught up to her and Haru was pushed off. Rion touched the tree first but Jila and Wolfgang soon caught up and they sped off back. Jila took the beach course this time while the boys jumped along the tree tops, keeping perfect balance.

Allthree were neck and neck at the bridge; Ryoma and Spiler lookedon, wondering who wouldwin.Jilagrinned, then jumped into the ocean and kept running,but all of a sudden, something caught Jila's foot and she was pulled down under the water.

"HELP ME!" shescreamed, barely able to stay afloat in the water due to the force pulling her down. Rion and Haru rushed out and pulled her up and out.

Jila coughed and sputtered for air as she was put on land. Haru looked out on the sea, wondering who or what in the world could have pulled Jila down, and thought he saw something black disappearing into the ocean floor. He looked out again, puzzled, but Rion's voice interrupted his thought train.

"You okay?" asked Rion.

"Yeah," coughed Jila, regaining her sight and breath.

"What was that?" asked Haru.

"Probably a piece of driftwood," shrugged Wolfgang casually.

"You could care a little more, man," snapped Rion.

"What? Every time you baby sister has an accident I'm supposed to lose sleep over it? Whatever, I'm going," Wolfgang snapped and started to walk away.

Jila's eyes snapped open wide and she felt her face blushing with embarrassment and pain. What Wolfgang said really hurt her…how could he treat her like that? She liked him so much! But Jila was never one to keep feelings inside. She turned around, her eyes full of tears, and cried loud:

"JERK!" she yelled and ran away towards the secret place near the waterfall. Haru tried to follow her, but Rion stopped him and shook his head. Haru's eyes narrowed in worry, and he glanced off towards where Jila had run off to.

* * *

In the secret place, Jila took a sharp rock and crossed out the picture of Wolfgang and her that she had drawn when she was seven. She sat and cried as she looked around. "Wolfgang doesn't care about me. He's just a JERK!" she cried out loud. It echoed through the small hole in the cave. With the wind coming through it, it kind of sounded like a monster.

Finally, she regained her composure and looked at the carvings that had collected themselves over the years. Her hands grazed upon all thescribbles, art works, and othercarvings, but, finally, after a few minutes of looking around,she saw one drawing that caught her eye.

The drawing seemed to be an old one, very faded. It showed a boy and a crudely drawn girl sharing a paopu fruit. Jila found her heart hurting by just looking at the happy drawing.They were obviously happy, but she didn't have anyone like that. She then took her sharp rock andabove the drawing drew herself handing someone a paopu fruit. She didn't know who she would give it to though. After all, who could she spend her destiny with?

_"Mommy, you and Daddy really love each other, don't you?" Jila asked her mother one night. Jila was only about six and was helping her mother wash the dishes. _

_"Of course," Kairi laughed. "Why do you ask?"_

_"When I love someone, will they be with me forever?" Jila asked, curious. Kairi paused, letting the water run over her hands._

_"Dear..." she finally spoke. "Remember, love is different for everyone. When you find those who you truly love, you'll stay with them forever."_

She left the spot blank for now and left the secret place. Shesighed as she sawher brothers waiting for her outside.

"Hey, come here," Rion said affectionately, acting like the big brother he was, and Jila gave him a hug,doing her bestnot to wet his top with her wet eyes."I know that you really liked Wolfgang but hey," she looked up, "you deserve a lot better."

* * *

The three children had actually stayed awake that night after storytelling and went home with their parents. After the kids had gone to bed, Kairi and Sora were still up looking at old pictures.

Kairi was flipping through the album that was sitting in her lap. She smiled wryly as shesaw the two of them about the age of seven. The two had been at Riku'seighth birthday party where Riku had beaten Sora in a duel. Riku got the first piece of cake.

Kairi cried a little looking at the pictures, the nostalgia getting to her.

"You okay Kairi?" asked Sora coming in and kissing her on the forehead affectionately.

"Yeah…I was just thinking," she closed the book. "Should we tell the kids the truth?" Sora looked confused and Kairi continued. "You know! About…about…about you, and me, and Riku, and…and…just…the past." She finished quickly, diverting her eyes from Sora's gaze.

"I don't know if they're ready," responded Sora, sipping his wine.

"You've said that for fifteen years…" Kairi said softly. "They're not children anymore Sora. Rion's fifteen! He's older then you were when Destiny Islands was attacked! We…we…what…" Kairi bit her lip. "What if something like that happened again?"

Sora looked at Kairi, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration and determination. "They'll never have to fight like we did." He took her hand. "We conquered the darkness."

A picture of Donald and Goofy smiling and waving fell out of the album as Kairi placedthe bookback on the table. Kairi picked it up just as it fluttered to the floor. "But it just seems like it'll never go away." She looked at Sora, obviously expecting an honest answer. "Can any part of what happened to us fade away?"

Sora opened the book and pointed to the picture of them kissing at their wedding. "That's the future our kids will have." He turned again to a newspaper clipping from a paper called "Traverse Town Tribune". On it was a picture of a shadow, looking at the photographer with bright, yellow eyes. "Not this."

A storm started to brew up and Sora quickly walked over and shut the windows. "Guess it's the stormy season," he smiled calmly at Kairi, and she smiled back. It was obvious though: they were both slightly worried. Kairi shut the photo album and placed it in the cardboard box it had come from. She placed the box in the closet as another roll of thunder boomed outside.

"Yeah…it's just the stormy season."

* * *

Jila couldn't sleep at all. She kept thinking about Wolfgang and what he had said that afternoon. The storm's sharp lightning and cruel thunder reminded her of how he had called her the "baby sister". She knew that whatever had caught her leg was _not_ a piece of driftwood.

But Jila couldn't think about Wolfgang for long. In an instant, as another bolt of lightning crashed, her ears picked up at asoun. She heard her mother's scream and the breaking of glass. "Momma!" she screamed, frightened and ran out of her room. Rion and Haru opened their door hastily and looked outside to see Jila running down the hall of their house.

"Jila!" they screamed, running after her.

In the living room, they saw their mother being carried by a strange shadow. It was very large and had a heart in the middle of it that seemed to be carved out of its body. It was like a miniature version of the monster in their dream. The monster was decorated with strange silver lining and had bright, penetrating eyes. Their father was fighting many strange creatures with swords and wings. But it wasn't the creatures that fascinated them. It was the sword.

It was a key. Only it was a blade. The most magnificent blade they had ever seen was being held right in the palm of their father's hand. It had a golden handle, a keychain, and a silver blade that shined in the light. Its mighty destructive power made the room light up.

"Jila, Haru, Rion run!" Sora yelled, desperately trying to get to their mother.

"No! We'll stay and help you fight!" insisted Jila. The three children all drew their wooden swords and tried to fight the strange creatures, even though their useless play swords were having no effect.

"Run now!" he screamed.

"What's going on?" yelled Haru.

"Yeah what are these things?" asked Rion.

"Heartless!" Sora yelled.

"What?" Rion questioned loudly, confused once again.

"No time!"

"Keyblade Master…"A seemingly distorted voice entered the room and the three children jumped a foot as they heard it. It spoke softly, smoothly, silkily as if coaxing their father into something. The trio couldn't tell if it was man or woman. Then, as they followed the voice, they noticed that it was coming from the thing carrying their mother, though they could tell that the creature was not speaking. "Don't think you can defeat me. You're much too old for this game, Sora."

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO!" Sora, frustrated, shrieked and ran at the monster. Its claws slashed him and a wave of darkness fell over him, damaging him each time it struck.

The voice boomed a high laugh. "Funny! It was only 19 years ago you could take down the Guardian and its mentor by yourself. Now, you're just a weakling. A little rusty I suppose?" the voice laughed cruelly as the Guardian came out of their father and disappeared with their mother into a large black ball with a pink core in the sky. As it flew up, it was obvious that there was no way to catch it. The other creatures that Sora had been fighting a moment before disappeared in a few wisps of midnight black smoke.

"KAIRI!" Sora screamed and tried to run after her and the strange Guardian, but he was stopped as he felt Rion's hand grasp his shoulder.

"We want some answers," he said to his father, the eldest looking extremely stern.

"Yeah what's going on?" asked Jila angrily although she knew she was about to cry.

"There's no time!" he yelled.

"Tell us," Haru commanded and they all drew their swords. "Then you can go."

Sora sighed and stepped back, knowing that there was no way to escape the explanation. "Fine," he sighed and the key disappeared from his hand in a few flashes of light. "I'll tell you."

Sora sat the three kids down in the chairs around the table in the living room. He walked over to the box that Kairi had put away only a few hours ago and opened it. After sifting through some papers, he found what he was looking for: the photo album. He took it, brushed off the cover, and walked over to his three children. He passed it to Rion and motioned for him to open it.

"You've all thought I made up the stories I tell each night…right?" Sora asked and the three children looked at him, amazed that he could bring up such a subject at such a time of need.

"Well…you have, haven't you?" Haru asked. "Dad, this really isn't the time…"

"There is time," Sora snapped and they looked at him, puzzled at his tone and his meaning. "I'm the one in those stories and they really happened. A long time ago when I was just fourteen years old."

"Dad?" Jila asked in disbelief. "You…you're joking? You're joking, right?"

"You? All…all that stuff!" Haru held his head.

"The evil witch?" Rion asked.

"The great ocean?" Jila bit her lip.

"The town?" Haru finished.

"It's all true…everything…" Sora sighed, his eyes narrowing. "I…I'm sorry I never told you guys…it's…it's just that…" He looked up at them. "I didn't want you to know if you didn't have to."

"Well, we have to now!" Rion told him, standing up. "I can't believe you lied to us like that! Did you have fun alluding us all from the truth! Or…" he bit his lip. "Or did you do it to make fools of me and the others?"

"THAT WASN'T IT!" The three children were shocked silent as their father raised his voice loudly to scream. He turned to them. "My battles were painful and rigorous! I wanted a better life for you guys!"

The three looked at each other, and for a second, no one said anything. The moment of silence was soon broken though. "Dad…" Jila said softly. "Can…can you tell us…tell us what's going on? Better late then never…right?"

Sora sighed. "Glance through that…" he motioned to the photo book. Jila, who held the book, started to turn the pages and look through the pictures of him in his young years. "When I was fourteen your mother, my friend Riku, and I wanted to get off this island and see other worlds. Riku especially. We had built a raft to take us there, but, on the night before we set sail, a storm struck and I went out to save the raft. The same huge black orb you see above us is the same thing that appeared in the sky that night. I ran to Riku who was all alone. He wanted to go through that portal to other worlds and was dissolved by darkness leaving me this." He drew the Keyblade and it shined brilliantly in front of the children. They all touched it gently, recalling what their father had told them.

"And then you landed in Traverse Town after fighting Darkside," Jila spoke softly, as if confirming the story in her head.

"And you met Donald and Goofy," said Haru.

"And you had all your adventures that you told us about," finished Rion.

"Yes, and I don't want the same fate to befall the worlds that almost happened years ago."

They turned the page and a picture of their mother at age 14 fluttered down and landed at the floor. Jila instinctively went to pick it up, but as she brought it to her face, she and her brothers gasped at the image.

It was the same girl that was on the glass floor.

"Yeah, that's your mother and this," he pulled out a picture of Donald and Goofy who had also been a stained glass floor picture. "Are my dearest friends Donald and Goofy."

The three were beginning to realize a pattern. The stained glass floors were somehow from their father's past. Their mother, his friends… the three imagined that the boy with white hair would appear too, but first, they saw something that astonished them again: an old picture of their father.

Again the picture was one that had appeared on a stained glass floor, the one that had given them the power to defeat the giant black monster. It was their own father that had given them the strength they needed to go on.

"Dad, let's go save Mom," insisted Rion and the three all drew their swords.

Sora shook his head and drew the Keyblade once again, "No, it's too dangerous. I won't allow it! You kids are completely inexperienced against the Heartless."

"But Daddy!" said Jila. She didn't get to finish as a huge roar and shake erupted from the ground. "What was that!" she screamed, grabbing onto her chair.

"Get outside!" Sora commanded. Jila, Haru, and Sora all ran outside, but Rion stayed and looked at the album. He squinted and grabbed a couple of photos, looking over them, and then shoving them into his pocket. Finally, he sprinted outside of his house. But, when he got there, the three kids gasped from horror.

Their home was no longer on the ground. It was now blowing away in a tornado of wind that surrounded the large piece of flying land that kept them standing. They staggered under the force. "Dad! What the heck is this!" Haru screamed over the pounding wind.

But the shake that they had felt had come from something else: a huge black monster with millions of black antennae like hair and yellow eyes. A huge heart-shaped hole was in the middle of it.

It was the monster from their dream.

"Darkside…" murmured Sora in amazement and horror.

The thing rose up from its stationary position, emitting a gigantic growl. It reared its ugly head and shook its arms, itching for a battle.

"Kids run!" Sora screamed to the three.

"No we'll stay!" Jila insisted to her frantic father.

"You'll be killed!" he yelled now as the wind was picking up.

"Dad, we know its weak point!" yelled Haru.

Sora looked back at them, puzzled and confused.

"Its hand!" Haru yelled again over the wind.

"How'd you know?" asked Sora, his mouth hanging slightly open from shock and amazement. His eyes were wide. "How…how could you know?"

"We had a dream!" yelled Rion. "In it, we fought this thing! We had a sword, a shield, and a magic staff."

Sora froze as he listened to the weapons that Rion listed. His face was draining of color.

"Once we defeated it, it sucked us up and we heard a voice!" Jila screamed as the monster stepped up onto the small piece of land. Its small feet made quaking motions as it moved.

Sora turned around, almost afraid at what his daughter might say.

"It said "You are the one you will open the door"!" the word door seemed to drag out as a great light erupted from the Keyblade in Sora's fist. It rose out of Sora's hand and spun around and around, emitting from it a great glow, and at last it stopped and erupted again. The light blinded all four of them, and they shielded their eyes from its amazing rays. It shone greatly and when they were able to open their eyes, they saw, shining in the air connected together at the tip, three Keyblades.

One had a yellow handle, another a red handle and the last a blue one. They fell gently into the kids' hands and the trio struck fighting poses with their newly acquired weapons. The yellow one was in Jila's hands, the red in Haru's, and the blue in Rion's. Sora smiled lightly, as if weary. He shook his head and looked at his children.

"Maybe that stranger was right. I'm too old for this game." He looked at Darkside. "Fight well guys."

"Right!" they yelled together, nodding, and the battle began.

With their new weapons they lunged at Darkside's hand with more confidence. Strangely Darkside put his hand on the ground where the kids could reach it. They started to attack but them to their surprise found that he was actually going to plunge his other hand into the ground! They quickly jumped away avoiding the force. Darkside seemed to be searching for something in the ground. They kept attacking, and finally it seemed that Darkside had found what he was looking for.

He pulled out a great pink centered dark black energy ball. He waited a couple of seconds then released it. Dozens of little pink crystal looking balls started to fall. They ignored them until one hit Haru.

"Ahh!" he cried and fell to the ground.

"Haru!" Jila screamed and they both ran back to him.

"Those things are more dangerous then we thought," warned Rion, lifting Haru to his feet. "Watch out for them."

They ran to attack again, avoiding the pink balls. A couple hit them but they were able to get up fast enough from the blows. Soon Darkside went back to his old attacks from the strange dream they had witnessed. He plunged his hand into the ground summoning more Shadows.

The children attacked the Shadows, this time quickly destroying them. They then turned to Darkside and executed a full frontal assault. Quickly, as if sensing alarm, Darkside ripped open his stomach and out of his body came blue beams of light. They ran from them, hitting Darkside's hand in between intervals of the beams. Soon, he stopped and they attacked again. This time, they had more confidence, but still their power was low. Darkside unleashed another attack of pink crystal balls and the children were hit once again.

"This isn't working…" Haru panted, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "Even with these keyblades, Darkside is stronger then ever!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Jila asked incredulously.

"Not much!" Rion panted. "Just keep attacking! Watch out for those pink crystals!"

They once again threw themselves into battle against the black beast, this time doing their best to focus on defense. Still, Darkside's combinations of Shadows, crystals, and beams of light were too much for the kids. As another beam hit Jila, she fell to the ground with a cry of pain and her brothers rushed over to aid her.

"Guys…" Jila panted. "I can't take any more of this…"

"I know…" Rion gathered spit into his mouth. "We've got to look out."

"It just keeps ticking!" Haru sighed. "How can we win?"

Then, they heard a voice. It was their father speaking to them.

"Jila, Rion, Haru don't give up!" he yelled over the wind. "Remember the dream you had!" They looked at him and he smiled at them. "This is your destiny!"

"How would you know?" Jila screamed, puzzled. But she stopped speaking as she felt a warm light in her hand that shone bright yellow. Rion had the same glow of blue and Haru's of red.

They felt the power and raised their swords together. "Let's go!" Jila yelled and they found words for their glowing sensations.

"Firaga!" yelled Rion letting the heavy blaze fly from his Keyblade.

"Tornado!" Haru drew his Keyblade straight out in front of him and jumped into the air spinning, attacking Darkside.

"Sonic BLADE!" Jila yelled and thrust her sword in front of her, destroying Darkside with her brothers' help. They felt the spells and abilities being drained from them as Darkside fell with a gigantic roar.

The wind picked up ferociously and Darkside, weak and unable to move, was thrown into one of the shining pink pitted black orbs. The children feared as well that they would also be pulled in.

"Quick, grab hold of that tree!" yelled Rion and the three siblings grabbed hold of the only tree on the battle ground.

Sora held onto a piece of driftwood that was stuck in the earth, although the three children knew he was losing his grip.

"Dad!" screamed Haru to his father.

"It's okay!" he yelled back. "I know I'll be fine even if I go through there!" he smiled at them and let go of his grip. "Don't be afraid." He gave them one final smile and was thrown into one of the black orbs.

"Daddy!" screamed Jila, tears flying from her eyes. They too lost their grip and ended up flying toward the orb. The three felt themselves being pulled into it and the darkness surrounding them, but then, their senses numbed and all went blank.

* * *

Donald Duck was walking through the majestic halls of Disney Castle, his own home world. He watched the brooms walk by cleaning the halls and marching in line. Donald smiled as he walked by and the friendly brooms, who gave him a friendly bow.

Donald finally reached his destination: a pair of huge lavender doors with a giant Mouse head shaped symbol at the very top. Gold rimmed the giant doors.

"A-hem," announced Donald. A small rectangular passageway, just big enough for Donald, opened in the door and he walked through.

"Good morning your majesty," greeted Donald. "It's nice to see you this morning."

The gold chair turned around and in it was King Mickey, the legendary king of Disney castle. He had on red short suspenders and a golden crown with a ruby mouse head figure. "Hello Donald," said King Mickey pleasantly enough, yet he looked discouraged.

"What's the matter your majesty?" asked Donald, obviously picking up on the King's distress. "You seem rather worried about something."

"Nothing," assured King Mickey, "nothing." He smiled and looked up. "Yes, now I remember! Donald, could you go down to the Gummi launch pad? Chip and Dale need your help."

"Right away sir!" Donald saluted to the King. The magician duck left, smiling, through the small door and the King returned to his book.

"I just don't get it," he said to himself. "Now every world has a ruler of some sorts." He thought of many, including one he didn't really want to remember. "But this new theory stifles me. A ruler to all worlds…" He looked at a huge map of the worlds in front of him and studied it extensively. "Who is it? And where is that person? How can the ruler rule when nobody knows where they are? Whoever they are, maybe they know why the stars are going out again…"

* * *

Donald kept walking down the hall to the Gummi launch pad. The brooms whistled by and his three nephews came scuttling up to him.

"Hey Unca Donald," greeted Huey. "There are some people out in the garden."

"What do you mean?" asked Donald skeptically.

"It's true," nodded Duey. "There are three people just like Sora."

"WHAT?" screamed Donald, sprinting towards the garden. "Sora, Kairi, and Riku!"

"No three OTHER people!" explained Luey, running up to him.

"Three others?" asked Donald, still running as the garden came into sight.

"Yep, three others," said Luey.

They ran out into the garden to see Goofy sleeping, as usual. His knight armor shined in the sun as it went up and down as he snored.

"Goofy!" yelled Donald running to him. "Wake up, wake up!" He jostled Goofy only to see he was still snoring peacefully. "Thundaga!" he yelled and lightning came down, waking Goofy up with a jolt.

"Oh, hello Donald," he greeted, yawning. "What's the problem?"

"Goofy, we've got an emergency!" he looked around. "But it's top secret."

"Well, gwarsh, last time an emergency was top secret it wasn't secret for long, was it? What's the problem?"

"We have intruders!" yelled Donald.

"Intruders?" said Goofy standing up.

"Yeah, three of them!" said Huey.

"Where are they?" asked Goofy.

"Over there!" yelled Duey pointing across the garden.

They all turned their heads, wide eyed, to see three children piled on top of each other. The one on the bottom was a boy, in his teens, with dirty blonde hair. On top of him and slightly to the right was another boy with brown messy hair and tears in his shirt. And propped up against the brown haired boy was a light brown haired girl with a red vest on.

"They kinda look like Sora, don't they?" asked Goofy, examining them more closely. "Gwarsh, maybe they're from his world."

"Maybe they're his friends," reasoned Donald, inspecting them too. "Let's wake 'em up."

The two poked and prodded at the trio until the girl opened her eyes. "Huh?" she was still half asleep as she looked into the face of Donald and he looked at her. She opened her eyes fully and saw his face.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" shrieked Donald, falling backwards.

"Haru, Rion wake up!" the girl said shaking her companions.

"What?" said Haru.

"What the heck…?" asked Rion getting up and seeing Goofy.

"Who are ya all?" asked Goofy.

"We should ask the same to you," said Jila with a little more courage then she had. But then she very carefully looked at them. The picture of Donald and Goofy flashed in her mind. "Donald? Goofy?"

They looked at each other perplexed with wonder. Rion and Haru looked too their eyes squinted as if Donald and Goofy were just fuzzy images.

"How do you know our names?" asked Donald.

"Yeah and where's Sora?" asked Goofy.

"Sora?" asked Jila.

"Yeah, are you his friends or something? Where's Kairi and Riku too?" asked Donald looking around.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Haru asked.

"Well you guys look about his age," explained Goofy. "And you look like you're from his world."

"What do you mean 'His world'?" Rion asked.

"Destiny Islands!" yelled Donald looking impatient.

"You know about our island?" Jila asked.

"Well gwarsh, that means that you must know Sora 'cause he lives there," nodded Goofy sagely.

"I don't really know what's going on but," Rion sighed, then his eyes opened widely. He went into his pocket and searched through the pictures, finally finding one that he needed. He gave the photo to the two, and they looked at it sharply. "This is a recent photo of Kairi and Sora."

Donald gently took the picture and held it up for Goofy to see. They both stared at it, perplexed. In it, Sora and Kairi, as adults, sat on the beach smiling. Sora was waving although they knew he wasn't waving at them…he obviously hadn't for a long time.

"They're our parents," said Haru bringing Donald and Goofy out of the photo. They looked up.

"But that's impossible," said Donald. "We just dropped him off at his island a couple months ago."

The children looked at them, confused and puzzled. "But it's been 19 years. Almost 20 since our dad was fourteen," Jila explained.

Donald and Goofy just kept looking at the photo thinking of their dear friend. Gone, grown up without them even knowing. His face still flashed in their minds, smiling, smiling with the greatest of ease.

"That's right!" said Jila, snapping Donald and Goofy, once more, out of the photo. "Our mom was kidnapped and we don't know where our dad is!"

"Sora's missing?" asked Goofy with a little panic in his voice.

"Wait!" said Donald. "King Mickey might know where he is! Let's go!"

"King who?" Jila asked, perplexed.

"King Mickey!" Donald told her. "He's the great ruler of our Kingdom! I'm sure he'll know where Sora went!"

"Then let's find him!" Rion nodded to his siblings and they nodded back to him and followed the strange duck and dog from their father's past.

The five then ran off in search for King Mickey who might hold the key to the children's father's disappearance. The children were hoping that this strange King Mickey would know of their father's whereabouts. Still, they knew that the chances were slim to none but that didn't stop them as they ran out of the garden with Donald and Goofy.

* * *

HOLY CRAP. I looked that over and MAN was that bad…and when I say bad…I mean REALLY bad. There were mistakes everywhere and the writing itself was poor! I hope that I fixed it. Don't worry, the next chapters will be WAY better.

Notes:

Wolfgang, Kaede, and Ryoma are all from FFXI, though I kind of messed up their personalities. lol…

Don't forget to review!

Until then,

Ciao for now!


	3. Level Three: Disney Castle

Author's Notes: Thanks to the poor reviewers who actually stuck it out for this horrible first two chapters! . I'm so sorry that my writing was poor at age eleven! 

Okay – now – let's hope THIS chapter has a BIT more originality then the other two! Pffft…

* * *

Level 3- Disney Castle 

Now that all five had finally collected their bearings and had thoroughly explained the situation to one another, they were finally off to find King Mickey. Jila, Haru, and Rion did their best to not ogle at the strange and bright halls of the Disney Castle.

"HOLY CRAP!" Haru's cry interrupted their desperate run, and all four fell over from surprise.

"What, what?" Jila asked, still angry at her brother for scaring her.

"Those…those…brooms are moving!" Haru screamed, pointing at the walking brooms. Jila and Rion watched the brooms walk along the Castle walls, pleasantly cleaning.

"Well of course!" Donald stamped his webbed foot impatiently. "How do you think they clean the Castle all day? C'mon, we don't have time!"

The three, still slightly creeped out by the moving brooms, ran after Donald and Goofy, doing their best to not show the paleness of their faces. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the five arrived at the two gigantic lavender doors with golden handles.

"Uhh…" Rion spoke up, doing his best to look to the top of the doors. "How do you open 'em?"

"Watch!" Donald commanded, obviously angered at the children's curiosity and impatience. He took a deep breath. "Ahem!" The small door swung open, and he promptly walked through. The others had to duck as they traveled through the small passageway, but once they raised their heads, they gasped at the magnificent throne room.

The walls were made of bookshelves, packed with more books then the children had ever seen in their lifetime. A single throne with red velvet cushions sat in the middle of it all. Ivory white tiles decorated the floor, and a desk filled with papers and stacked with books was tucked into a corner.

"Your majesty?" Goofy spoke. "A-hyuck, we've got some visitors!"

"Visitors?" The children heard a voice, and looked around the gigantic room for its owner. They finally saw the speaker, sliding down from the tall ladder that led up to the rows of books. He was a small mouse wearing red suspenders and a crown. "Who might they be?"

"Umm…I'm--" Jila started, only to have her back shocked by Donald's rod. "Hey! What was that for!"

"You'll address him as "Your majesty!" Donald exclaimed and Jila stuck out her tongue at him.

"Fine, your majesty," Jila did a dramatic curtsy, only angering Donald more. "We were told you could help us."

"Strange," Mickey smiled. "You look like Sora."

"Uhh…yeah, before we get too complicated, we're his children, and I know that sounds weird but…" Rion started, not wanting to launch into another long winded explanation. "It seems that--"

"Time runs much faster on Destiny Islands than it does here, correct?" Mickey asked and the children blinked.

"Umm…yeah…"

"Just as I figured!" Mickey smiled, clapping his gloved hands. "Another hypothesis, successfully tested!"

"Umm…with all due respect, your majesty," Rion butted in. "We've come to talk to you about a problem we're having."

"What might that be?" Mickey asked, heading over to his throne and sitting down comfortably. "Hmm…speaking of which. If you're Sora's children, then where's Sora?"

"That's just the problem!" Jila exclaimed. "Our dad is missing and our mom was kidnapped! These two," she jerked her thumb at Donald and Goofy, "said you could help!"

"Sora? Missing? How so?" Mickey asked. "How did you all end up here anyway?"

"Well, you see, your majesty," Haru spoke. "This giant black thing came and destroyed our island! Our dad was blown away, and we were too! That's how we ended up here…"

"Darkside?" Mickey asked, his eyes wide. "Hmm…I see. It's as I feared."

"Huh?" Donald and Goofy both questioned at once.

"What do you mean, your majesty?" Donald asked incredulously.

"It's just as I feared Donald, Goofy. Worlds are being destroyed, stars are going out," Mickey looked solemn. "I can only assume that what happened months ago is happening again."

"B-but we defeated Ansem!" Donald exclaimed. "He was the creator of the Heartless, right!"

"Yes," Mickey nodded. "But something tells me that someone has taken control of Ansem's work and formed it to his or her own needs."

"But why would they kidnap our Mom?" Rion asked. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"That is still a mystery to me," Mickey shook his head back and forth. He got up from his throne and started to pace. "Hmmm…well!"

"Well what?" Jila asked, only to be greeted by another shock from Donald. "YOW!"

"Dummy!" Donald snapped. "The King obviously has a plan!"

"Actually Donald, I'm plan-less," Mickey laughed, rubbing the back of his head. Donald fell over, as did Jila. "But, as long as Sora wields the Keyblade, we have nothing to worry about!"

"That's right!" Donald nodded to the three children. "As long as Sora's the Keyblade Master, nothing can defeat him!"

"Umm…about that…" Haru grimaced at the other two.

"About WHAT!" Donald fumed; he was obviously very annoyed at the vagueness of the children.

"Umm…Sora…our dad…doesn't have the Keyblade anymore," Jila admitted.

"WHAT!" Donald screamed and started to run around in panicked circles. "How could he have lost the Keyblade!"

"He's the Keyblade Master, gwarsh; it seems odd he'd lose it!" Goofy frowned.

"If Sora doesn't have it, who does?" Mickey asked and the three children sighed.

"We do," Rion said and the three drew their keyblades with a soft "chink" and light. Donald, Goofy, and Mickey looked at them with wide eyes.

"YOU! I KNEW IT, YOU STOLE IT FROM SORA!" Donald readied his wand. "C'mon, let's fight 'em Goofy!"

"Gwarsh, but they say they're his kids! A-hyuck!"

"Wait, both of you," Mickey stepped forward and looked at the three children's blades. "No doubt about it, these are genuine. Obviously, Sora left you guys his power."

"B-but that means that Sora's defenseless!" Donald exclaimed, nearly tearing out his head feathers.

"Not necessarily," Mickey pointed out. "Perhaps the reason that these three have been given the Keyblade is so that Sora can wield another power."

"So we're just fill-me-ins!" Jila asked, obviously annoyed by the King's hypothesis.

"That's not what I'm saying," Mickey shook his head. "Obviously, you three have some part in the Keyblade Prophecy."

"Keyblade…?" Rion started.

"Prophecy?" Haru finished.

"Yes! Something tells me that you three are meant to find out what's happening with the Worlds!" Mickey explained. "So, we must send you off immediately!"

"Hold on!" Rion exclaimed. "We only came here to find our dad and our mom, not to get caught up in some dumb prophecy!"

"Yeah! We need to find Dad and Mom before we go saving "The Worlds" or whatever crud you're babbling about!" Jila insisted.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Mickey told them. "My hypothesis…"

"Not again."

"My hypothesis is that Sora has once again been transported to Traverse Town. This is only a guess, mind you, but a good one. Go there, and you might find Sora!"

"Traverse Town?" Haru asked. "Dad talked about that, remember?"

"Yeah…" Jila nodded. "You might be right, your majesty!"

"JUST HOLD ON A MINUTE!" Donald stamped his feet, demanding attention. "How in the Worlds can Darkside be back! We defeated him!"

"That's another mystery Donald," Mickey nodded. "Someone, or something, is utilizing Ansem's research and using it for their own devices. But if he or she can do that, who knows what else they can do."

"Well, we've got to get to Traverse Town and find our Dad!" Rion exclaimed. "B-but how can we get there?"

"The Gummi Ship!" Donald exclaimed. "We'll take you to the Launch Pad!"

"Awesome!" Haru cheered.

"Thanks King Mickey!" Jila waved and all five of them ran out of the doors, ready to head to the launch pad.

* * *

"So, we just fly this…what did you call it again?"

"Gummi Ship!"

"Yeah, right! Gummi Ship to…what was that place again?"

"Traverse Town!"

"Yeah, that place! We fly the Gummi Ship to Traverse Town, find our Dad, have him rescue Mom, and then we go home?" Haru asked, outlining the plan as the three ran through the halls.

"But remember that huge thing that attacked the island?" Jila reminded him. "We may not have a home to go back to!"

"Once we get this mess sorted out, everything will be back to normal!" Donald stated, then whispered under his breath, "I hope…"

"It's got to go back to normal," Rion assured his siblings. "Remember Dad's stories? Once we find him, I'm sure he can help fix things."

"What about our Keyblades?" Jila asked, pulling out hers. "Should we give them back to Dad?"

"It's not as if we know how to use them…" Haru scratched his head, pulling out his own red handled one. "But it's not every day you get graced with a legendary weapon."

"This isn't a game, Haru," Rion reminded him. "We need to give these blades to whoever can wield them properly."

"Well, we do pretty well!" Jila smiled, slashing her blade. "Why can't we wield them?"

"I…I guess…" Rion stumbled. "But still!"

"Stop lagging behind!" Donald called to them and the three children ran to catch up with the feisty mage. "The King probably has already alerted Chip and Dale to ready the ship! We can't keep them waiting!"

"Coming!" They called simultaneously, and ran through the halls with new speed to catch up with the impertinent wizard.

* * *

"A-hyuck, Chip, Dale, they're here," Goofy pointed to the Gummi Launch Pad door as Donald and the three children came skidding into the room.

"Are…are those things supposed to be some kind of humanoid?" Haru asked pointing to the two feisty chipmunks saluting to them.

"Obviously not," Rion said, sighing. "Things sure are weird here…"

"Anyway!" Donald interrupted, running forward. "Chip, Dale, ready the Gummi Ship for a trip to Traverse Town! There's no time to lose in recovering Sora!"

The two chipmunks nodded and ran quickly to the configuration room, adjusting their rubber gloves as they skidded along. "I'll go help 'em out, gwarsh," Goofy laughed.

"Goofy, don't break anything!" Donald snapped, then returned to the three children. "Anyway, do you know how to fly it?"

"Ummm…not exactly," Jila scratched her head.

"Fine!" Donald sighed impatiently, then pointed to Rion. "You! You're the designated flyer!"

"Huh?" Rion asked, pointing to himself. "M-me? I don't know how to fly this thing!"

"I'll teach you!" Donald smiled. "It's really quite simple, come with me."

"No fair, I want to fly too!" Jila insisted. "I've never gotten to fly a spaceship before!"

"Eldest brother gets responsibility," Rion smirked to his younger siblings as Donald led him down to the ship which was already situated on the launching site.

Jila and Haru watched Donald open up the ship and help Rion inside, then shut the door behind him. The two sighed, still put out that they hadn't been given the chance to fly the ship like their older brother.

"Hmm…" Goofy scratched his ear.

"What's wrong, Goofy?" Haru asked as he and Jila walked into the Configuration room where Chip and Dale were frantically skipping about, pulling levers and pressing buttons.

"Seems we've got a problem," Goofy sighed. "Chip and Dale say that the ship won't fire up!"

"Huh?" Jila asked, peering at the controls. "Why not?"

"Dunno," Goofy shrugged. "Just won't. Maybe there's something blocking it, gwarsh."

"Goofy!" Donald called from the gummy ship, poking his bill out. "Fire up the ship! I'm going to give Rion a test run!"

"Gwarsh, sorry Donald," Goofy scratched his ear. "But it won't fire up. Something's blocking the system!"

"Whaaat!" Donald asked, falling out of the ship, flattening his face on the platform. The three couldn't help but stifle fits of laughter as Donald stumbled to his feet and ran to the control panel. "Hmm…this is odd. Something's blocking off the Gummi Ship's power source!"

"What do you think it is Donald?" Goofy asked, dumbfounded.

"Hmm…" Donald stroked his feathered chin, putting his hand on his hip and pacing throughout the small control room. "Not sure."

"Uncle Donald!" Huey panted, running into the room. "We've got a problem!"

"Yes, I know that!" Donald stomped his feet up and down. "Why must you remind me?"

"It's Heartless!"

The three children's eyes widened and they immediately sprinted for the door, Rion jumping out of the ship with little difficulty. Donald was quick to run in front of them. "Now hold it right there!" He blocked the door, shielding himself over the front of it. "You're not going anywhere!"

Huey walked over to Donald to explain the situation. "There are loads out there!" he told him. "They're storming the castle!"

"Could they be after us?" Jila asked her two brothers.

"Why would they? They can't use our keyblades," Haru reminded her. "It seems pointless."

"Maybe we pose a threat to them," Rion suggested and his younger siblings nodded. "What do you think Donald?"

"That's most likely what they're here for…" Donald nodded. "That's why you've got to get out of here as soon as possible!"

"We can't just go!" Jila insisted. "We have to defeat them! You can't do it alone!"

"Don't underestimate us!" Donald told her. "You forget that the King possesses a Keyblade as well! He'll defeat these heartless in no time!"

"Gwarsh, Donald, we got another problem."

"WHAT IS IT GOOFY?" Donald shouted, exasperated.

"I think the Heartless are the ones blocking the power to the ship!" Goofy told him.

"Huh?" Donald's eyes widened. "What makes you say that?"

"Cause they're right here in the control room," Goofy pointed to the room which was now covered with glowing-eyed shadows.

"Oh no!" Jila cried, and the three pulled out their keyblades. "Let's go guys!"

"C'mon Goofy!" Donald told him, taking out his wand. "Let's get 'em and get these three out of here!"

"HYAH!" The three children all ran towards the shadows; the shadows reacting to their aggression with a head on attack.

"Eat this!" Jila slashed two shadows, making them fly off against the walls. They sunk into the ground, obviously defeated. Jila turned around to see her brothers and Donald and Goofy taking care of their own batch of Heartless.

Soon, all the creatures had retreated into the ground, leaving the five alone. The three children took their opportunity to run to the doors and throw them open.

Outside, hundreds of Heartless were storming the halls and gardens, marching towards the King's Throne Room. "Oh no!" Jila cried. "We can't beat all those Heartless!"

"What other choice do we have?" Rion asked, running outside and engaging a Heartless wearing a metal head piece. "C'mon guys! Pick 'em off!"

"R-right!" the other two nodded and ran to face their own batches of Heartless.

"THUNDAGA!" Donald ran outside and cast the spell, sending a dozen or so Heartless reeling backwards from the impact. "C'mon Goofy!"

"Gwarsh! Right!" Goofy nodded and started to attack a few shadows with his shield, Donald still sending out powerful elemental spells.

"HAH!" Haru smashed another Heartless soldier, making it explode into a heart and black smoke. "Guys! They're moving toward the King! We've got to stop them!"

"We'll never catch them!" Jila cried, seeing the marching Heartless army speeding up towards the giant purple doors. "What are we gonna do?"

"We're not giving up yet!" Donald assured her, shuffling around his sleeve until he finally found what he was looking for. It was a small silver whistle. Donald raised it to his bill, took a deep breath, and blew into the whistle.

The resounding sound made the children cover their ears from shock and pain. "Hey! What's that for?" Haru asked.

"Just watch!" Donald assured them.

"Watch…" but Rion didn't finish his sentence as the ground began to shake beneath their feet. It seemed like an earthquake, the entire room was shaking. Obviously, the Heartless had noticed it too, as they stopped in their tracks and looked around for possible enemies.

But from around every corner and every door came marching brooms, ready for combat against the Heartless. They made two lines, blocking the Heartless in. One broom stepped forward; the children assumed it was the leader, and pointed towards the Heartless. The brooms raised their mops and pans in a triumphant cry and rushed into combat!

"Hah!" Jila laughed. "They're making a blockade for us! Come on guys, let's go!" Jila pointed her keyblade towards the battle and the others nodded, rushing forward.

* * *

"What's all that noise?" Mickey asked, feeling the ground shake beneath him as he sat in his throne reading a book. Mickey shut the book, a frown on his face, and walked over to his large doors.

"I wouldn't open the door if I were you, Your Majesty."

Mickey stopped dead in his tracks as the lights in the room shut off the curtains closed quickly. He stumbled around. "Wh-who's there?"

"Don't overreact," the voice laughed. "I must say, that Heartless invasion provided the perfect distraction for me to sneak in here unnoticed."

"Show yourself!" Mickey drew his golden Keyblade and commanded the voice. "Who are you?"

"I'm just here for your chain."

"M-my what?" Mickey asked, dumbfounded. "Y-you…you know about the Keychains?"

"Of course!" the voice laughed haughtily. "Now give me yours and I'll leave quietly."

"Never!" Mickey shook his head. "The keychains were never meant to be collected! They were to stay with the person of whom they were given to! Surely you must know this if you know the legend of the Keychains!"

"Of course I do," the voice spoke. "Do you think something as ridiculous as that is going to stop me? Now, I'm not going to ask nicely again…" the voice turned angry. "Hand – it – over."

"Never!" Mickey cried, running forward towards the voice.

But in an instant, Mickey fell back as a long object was plunged through his chest. He didn't bleed, but he dropped his blade and his eyes went blank. The object was pulled out and Mickey remained unscathed, even if he still had not regained conscious. When the object was pulled up, on the bottom of it was a tiny castle attached to a chain. Under the castle was a miniature golden heart. Mickey's mysterious attacker smiled widely and put the chain into his or her fingers, feeling it in his or her palm. The person smiled and plucked the chain of the end of the pole, attaching it to the top instead.

"One down…"

And with that, the lights flickered back on, but only the unconscious Mickey remained in the room.

* * *

"Yes!" Jila laughed, wiping her brow. "We defeated them all!" Jila was right; every Heartless had been defeated thanks to the combined forces of the five fighters and the legion of brooms.

"Thank you soldiers!" Donald saluted to the brooms and they saluted back. "Back to your posts!"

The brooms milled off back around the corners and through the doors they had come out from. The children smiled as they watched them go.

"We'd better report to the King!" Donald reminded them, running towards the doors. "I'm surprised he didn't hear the attack!" Donald pushed open the doors, the others following him through the high archways.

"It is weird…" Rion nodded. "When those brooms marched out it felt like an earthquake. Don't you think the King would have heard it?"

"Maybe he was sleeping," Haru offered jokingly.

"Perhaps," said Jila, shrugging.

"Oh no! Your Majesty!"

The three children looked up from their conversation to see Donald running frantically towards the huddle form of an unconscious Mickey on the ground. "Your Majesty! Gwarsh, are you all right?" Goofy joined Donald, the three children rushing after the two.

"Is he…all right?" Jila asked and Donald didn't answer.

Rion bent down and felt Mickey's chest. "He's still breathing…but…he's unconscious, that's for sure."

"Unconscious? No…" Donald shook his head. "His heart's been stolen!"

"Wh-what?" Jila asked, stepping back. All three children looked at one another in disbelief. "H-how could his heart have been stolen?"

"I don't know…" Donald shook his head. "Oh this is just horrible…"

* * *

"But why?" Jila asked about a half an hour later. All five and the Queen, Queen Minnie, were circled around King Mickey who was lying in bed, still in the same state that he was before. "Why would anyone want to steal the King's heart?"

"I'm not sure…" Donald shook his head, looking extremely worried. "The King would never lose to an ordinary or even strong Heartless! I don't know what happened!"

"Oh dear…" Minnie shook her head, obviously holding back her worry and fear. "What will happen to the King?"

"I'm not sure Your Majesty…" Donald shook his head. "But we've got to find his heart and return it to him! That much is obvious."

"Where can we start looking?" Rion asked and Donald turned to him. "We'll help look with you. Where could it be?"

"I have no idea…" Donald admitted, then looked up with great conviction. "Goofy, we're going on the ship to find the King's heart!"

"But Donald, we've only got one ship," Goofy reminded him. "And weren't Jila, Rion and Haru going to use that one to go to Traverse Town?"

"That doesn't matter right now!" Donald insisted, jumping up and down in frustration. "The King is much more important!"

"Hey! Says who?" Haru asked and Jila nodded. "Our Dad is in trouble too! You promised us that we could use that ship!"

"Haru, Jila, stop." The two younger siblings turned to face their older brother who was shaking his head. Rion looked at Donald. "How about this? If you'll accept our terms that is…"

"What are you proposing?" Donald asked.

"We find our Dad and still look for the King's heart," Rion offered. "After all, you said that there are other Worlds out there. I doubt the thief would stick around here."

Donald looked at Rion, obviously thinking over his proposal. "Well…Sora might be in danger as well. It only makes sense that we should hit two dodo birds with one stone."

"So you'll let us use the ship?" Jila asked, smiling widely and Donald nodded.

"Yes, I will."

"Yes!" Jila smiled widely, giving Donald a squeezing hug around the neck.

"Ack! A-air! Can't breathe!"

"C'mon guys!" Jila called to her brothers. "Let's get going!"

* * *

"Gwarsh, ready you three?" Goofy called from the control room and Rion nodded. The three had crammed themselves into the Gummi ship, Rion and Haru sitting in front (Rion at the controls) and Jila in the back.

"Starting power!" Donald commanded and Dale pulled a switch. "Boosting engines!" Chip pushed a button. Donald took a deep breath and yelled as loud as he could: "LAAAAUNNNCH!"

With a resounding "bing!" an arrow pointing upward appeared in front of the three, and they all looked extremely confused.

"Eject!" Donald shouted, and before the three knew what had happened, a spring board ejecting under them and they flew through an opening in the ceiling, out into space.

"I knew that was better then letting them just fall like last time!" Donald said proudly, then returned to his work: "And finally!" he shouted. "Give 'em a boost!"

The ship's engines started to roar loudly. "Wh-what's that?" Jila asked, grabbing onto her two brothers' seats.

"Don't ask me, I'm just driving this thing!" Rion snapped.

But, the three didn't have much more time to ask questions, as the engines emitted a loud roar and a boost of rocket power, sending the small ship out into the unknown reaches of the other worlds…

"Gwarsh, think we'll see 'em again?" Goofy asked.

"Of course we will you dummy!" Donald snapped. "After all, I'm putting Chip and Dale in charge of building a second ship for you and me! We're not letting them find the King's Heart alone! They're just kids! For all we know they could screw up."

"Gwarsh, but that might take awhile," Goofy pointed out.

"Shaddap!" Donald commanded and Goofy laughed loudly. Chip and Dale looked at each other, shook their heads, and jogged off towards the Gummi Ship exit doors.

"Where to now?" Haru asked Rion, peering at a small display which acted as a navigation device. Rion was busy maneuvering around space, avoiding small asteroids or other obstructions.

"Traverse Town," Rion told him, pointing to a label that read "Traverse Town". "That's where the King told us to go."

"So now we have to find Dad, rescue Mom, and find the King's lost heart," Jila counted the tasks on her fingers. "Man, our chore list just keeps getting longer and longer…"

"You can say that again," Haru sighed, reclining in his chair. "Hey Rion, pick up the pace!"

"Hey, no back-seat piloting," Rion snapped.

"But I'm in the front seat."

"This trip is going to take longer then I thought it would…"

* * *

The End of the third chapter! Did you enjoy it? I know I did! Please review! And thank you all for your support!

-Sammy


	4. Level Four: Traverse Town Part I

Keyblade Master Chronicles

Hey everyone! I want to thank you all for your reviews and continuing support! Everyone of you can help me write on and get new ideas!

In this chapter, a lot awaits us, especially some new characters and a few new threats! This chapter contains Traverse Town, but, because it's so large, it'll be divided into two levels: Level Four and Level Five.

Also, for those of you who have not played FFVIII or FFXI, don't worry; I'll give you a blow by blow of who the new characters are at the end of the chapter.

Okay! Enough jabber! On with the chapper!

* * *

**Level 4 – Traverse Town Part I**

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Haru yawned, reclining in his seat as Rion continued to fly the Gummi Ship through space. Although a few obstacles had appeared in the children's way, Rion was a sharp enough pilot to dodge them with ease. In fact, they had had little trouble for the entire flight, even if it had been seemingly over an hour. "I still don't see Traverse Town."

"It should show up on the navigator," Rion remarked, pointing to the navigator panel on the dashboard. Haru leaned over to watch it. "What does it say?"

"A half an hour away…" Haru sighed, leaning back. "I think I'll take a nap. Jila seems to have helped herself to the backseat."

The two boys looked around their seats to see Juka fast asleep in the back, drool slightly forming at the edge of her mouth. "Seriously, how can she sleep at a time like this?" Rion sighed, shaking his head and returning to the steering of the ship.

"Hey, I may follow suit," Haru yawned. "We've been through heck, that's for sure."

"It's not going to end here," Rion reminded him. "We still have to find the King's Heart and rescue Mom after finding Dad."

"Ahh, you know Dad!" Haru joked, jabbing his brother in the ribs with his elbow. "He'll just snap his fingers and save the day! He's invincible!"

"If he's invincible…" Rion said darkly, staring at the controls. "Then why didn't he stop that thing from taking Mom away?"

Haru paused, a little amazed that his older brother was questioning his father's abilities that all three had trusted for so long. "H-he…I…I don't know."

"It's strange…" Rion shook his head. "It's like this experience is making me wonder how much of Dad's stories were fantasy and how much were reality… Like I'm no longer a child."

"You never were a child," Haru assured him. "You're fifteen years old. Almost sixteen for that matter."

"But Destiny Islands was always so peaceful," Rion reasoned. "I remember always joking around, challenging the guys to fights…falling asleep during story time. It makes me wonder if I'm really ready for something like this."

"You've changed, Rion," Haru told him and Rion's head perked up as he turned to his brother. "You've become more serious. I noticed it when you reasoned with Donald back at the Castle. You didn't insist on getting our way."

"It would've been hopeless to argue," he shrugged, looking sheepish. "I realized that."

"Maybe you _are_ more mature," Haru sighed, lying back. "A child would insist on having their way, but you were able to compromise."

"Are you upset with the new me?"

There was a pause, and Haru didn't answer. He stared back at Jila, and shook his head. "I wish she would wake up."

"ARRGH!" Rion shouted as a huge impact from the right side made the Gummi Ship shake violently, throwing him forward and Haru into the dashboard. Jila fell off her seat in the back and she woke up instantly.

"Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, shaking her head.

"We've been hit!" Haru exclaimed, reading damage reports that appeared in front of them. "What's going on?"

"Heartless Ships…" Rion murmured and Jila and Haru turned to him.

"What did you say?" Jila asked frantically.

"Donald told me that Heartless Ships might not want us to reach our destinations!" Rion exclaimed. "We have to shoot them down before they shoot us!"

"Right!" Haru nodded. "But how?"

"Haru, you grab those two controls!" Rion pointed to two joysticks with red buttons on them, and Haru nodded, grabbing them with both his hands. "Jila, you activate the shields from the panel back there on the back of my seat!"

"R-right!" she nodded insecurely, flipping down the panel on the back of Rion's seat. She saw a large button labeled "Shield" and pressed it.

A blue light erupted around the Gummi ship, then shut off once Jila released her finger. "That's how you work the shield?" She asked.

"I'm assuming," Rion nodded. "Look, I'll maneuver around them. Haru, you shoot and tell Jila when to raise the shield."

"Got it," he nodded.

The ship shook again. "Darn! A hit from behind!" Rion growled. "Jila! Damage report!"

"Shields down toseventy percentpower!" She said, reading a damage readout that appeared on the panel.

"Jila, shield up!" Haru shouted, pressing down the two buttons and firing a spray of bullets at an oncoming black Heartless ship.

"Right!" Jila pressed the shield button and the blue shield appeared, blocking a barrage of attacks from an oncoming ship. "It's off! Shields recharging!"

"Eat this!" Haru growled, pressing on the buttons and destroying another Heartless ship.

"I'm speeding up!" Rion called to the two, and grabbed a dial, turning it up. Jila and Haru both felt the sheep speeding past the normal limit.

"R-Rion!" Jila called to her eldest brother. "Shields down to fifty percentpower! Did we take a hit?"

"No," Rion muttered and the others looked confused. "I'm flying past the ship's limits. The shield power will go down gradually, but we should get there in five minutes or less."

"Shields down toforty fivepercentpower!" Jila called to Rion. "Are we going to make it in time?"

"I don't know," Rion shook his head. "But we've got to shake those troops!"

Haru glanced at the radar. "Man! Rion, watch out! There's an entire fleet on our tail! At least thirty ships!"

"I can't activate the shield!" Jila called. "We won't make it in time if we run out of fuel!"

"Once the shields go down, the ship will stop moving," Rion cursed their luck. "C'mon, baby, move it, move!"

"Rion! Three minutes and closing to destination!" Haru called to him desperately.

"Shields down to thirty five percentpower!" Jila called. "I don't know if they can't take much more!"

"Two minutes and thirty seconds!"

"Shields down totwenty sevenpercentpower!"

"Two minutes!"

"Shields down totwenty percent!"

"One minute thirty three seconds!"

"Shields atfifteen percent!"

"Hey you two!" Rion shouted to his two younger siblings. "If you could stop with the constant status reports then maybe I could get us there!"

"S-Sorry!" Jila reddened. "But our shields are on their last limb! Onlyeight percentpower remaining!"

"Get ready for a bumpy ride you two!" Rion shouted, smashing his hand on the speed dial and turning it up to max. "Cause we're going max speed!"

The three felt themselves being pushed back in their seats as the images around them started to fuzz with the oncoming speed. Rion had made the speed rating so powerful that the three seriously thought that they wouldn't be able to stop in time before being hit by some sort of oncoming object.

"Rion!" Jila screamed. "Shields down toone percent!"

".5 seconds to destinat—OW!"

The ship made a huge crashing sound and all three children were thrown forward, Rion and Haru onto the glass window in the front of the ship; Jila onto the back of Haru's seat. "Owwwiee…"

"Man, what in the world happened?" Haru sputtered, separating his bruised face from the glass.

"I think we crashed…" Rion muffled, still smashed against the front of the ship.

"Oh, you think you dummy?" Jila snapped sarcastically. "It's all your fault we crashed like this! You were going way too fast!"

"If I hadn't gone faster, our shields would have collapsed on us!" Rion countered, turning on Jila. "We were more thenthirty seconds to the destination witheight percentremaining! I made the right choice!"

"Where'd you learn to fly this thing like that?" Haru asked, holding his head, as if focusing his vision.

"Donald taught me."

"But you've got a knack for spaceship flying," Haru complimented. "If I had been in the pilot seat, we would be Heartless food right now."

Rion didn't answer, but he gave a light smile to his two siblings and quickly opened up his door. Haru copied him, and Juka climbed through to the front and slid through Haru's door.

"Woah…" Haru looked at the wreckage of the Gummi Ship and Rion didn't answer him. He looked very red, and very upset that in one flight, he had already half-destroyed their vessel.

The ship's front was completely dug into the ground, obviously bent in many odd places. A wing was dangling by a few screws, and the back engines were bent to the right, as if they had hit something very hard and very fast. The front window was cracked slightly, and Rion couldn't tell if it was from the impact or from Haru and his heads coming into contact with it. "What are we going to tell Donald?" Jila asked, looking very frantic.

"Right now, the ship is the least of our worries," Rion said quickly. "First, we need to find Dad."

"I hope this is even Traverse Town…" Haru sighed. "With the speed we were going at, who knows where we ended up?"

"I'm pretty sure this is Traverse Town," Jila told them.

"Hmm?" Haru turned to her. "What makes you say that, sis?"

"Because that sign says so."

The three children looked up above their heads to see a pair of huge wooden doors that were framed by a huge wall. Above the wooden doors, there was a neon glowing sign colored bright gold that read "Traverse Town" and bore many strange arrows and dazzling lights.

"I guess we made it," Rion nodded to the other two, and, together, they walked up to the large wooden doors, opened them, and walked in.

* * *

"Woah!" Jila laughed, looking around as they closed the huge doors and saw the extent of the city they were in. It was a brick city with many lights, a café, a mailbox, a large shop, and another two pairs of large doors. "This place is great!"

"This is so cool!" Haru laughed. "Think of all the exciting worlds I've been missing for fourteen years of my life! Dad must have had the time of his life!"

"Hey…wait…" Rion stopped and the two turned around to face him. "Cid moved back to the Hollow Bastion right? Does that mean that his shop is still being run by an ordinary townsperson? If Cid's still there, maybe Dad's seen him!"

"We could check!" Jila suggested and the two boys nodded, running up the stairs of the city.

Unfortunately, a sign marked "Closed" hung on the doors and the three were denied entrance. "Man…" Jila's eyebrows arched in disappointment. "He's not here. Whoever owns the shop."

"Well…we should start checking for Dad."

"There's no need for that."

The three spun around as they heard a voice from behind them. When they focused their vision on the person, or people, before them, they realized that there was a group of three, most like them, standing in front of them.

The one who had spoken was a man who looked to be in his late twenties. He had sandy blonde hair that was covered by a head wrap colored brown with a black stripe. The wrap's tie covered part of his face and he wore a single small golden hoop on his right ear. Also, he wore a long grayish robe that revealed a bit of his chest and fell to just above his knees. The robe's sleeves were baggy and ended at his wrists, much like his black pants, which ended where his brown string-up shoes started, just under his knee. Around his waist was a red sash lined with gold. On his belt, he carried a black dagger sheath that held a dagger with a golden handle.

The man looked stern, but not so much that he seemed unfriendly. His face was serious, but the children could sense a friendly spark in his eye.

"Do you really think that they're the ones, Aldo?" A voice from behind the man, now revealed to be Aldo, asked. The carrier of the voice walked out from behind Aldo's form, showing her full form.

She was a very pretty woman who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. She had long black hair that was up in a ponytail with only a few strands framing her face. Her eyes were a dark black to match her hair. Across her forehead was a gray band with an armored plate in the center. Her body was decorated with a crimson kimono type jacket with lighter red lining. Scale shoulder armor decorated the jacket, along with red arm plates and chain mail sleeves. Her gloves were a grayish color with white bands across them. Her leg-wear cut off just above her knees and was colored a bold crimson to match her jacket. She wore many belts across her waist, and under her shorts were red leggings that matched her black and red tall boots. On her waist was a slim, long curved sword in a black sheath. The handle was round and was decorated golden.

She seemed more serious then Aldo; the type who knew exactly what needed to be done and did it. She eyed the three children, and they felt their blood run cold. "They match the descriptions, yes, but are we absolutely sure?"

"I'd bet on it, Ayame," Aldo nodded, smiling at her. "Look, almost the same colored clothing and everything."

"What about the one in the middle?" Ayame asked, pointing to Jila. "We can't know if its truly the person we're looking for until they…"

"If you'rrre going to keep bickerrring about it, why not just make them brrring out theirrr blade?"

The last of the trio stepped out from the background, making her presence known. This one was the most shocking of all to the children, mainly because of two simple features.

She had cat ears sticking out of her short white hair, and a cat's tail. While the children viewed these features with wide and curious eyes, the woman turned to Aldo and Ayame, obviously annoyed with their indecisive behavior.

The woman was wearing a white tunic with blue, gold and red lining in the middle where the clasps were. It also hood bunched in the back, lined with gold, and long sleeves that were also lined with blue and red. She had on plate armor gloves that were adorned with silver and golden designs. Her legs were decorated with the same plate armor, as were her feet. On her back were a gigantic green colored bow and a quiver full of arrows. Across her forehead was a golden circlet.

"Rrreally!" The children noticed how the woman rolled her "R's." "It's rrridiculous how you two arrre acting! Let's do what we came to do! Quistis told us to brrring these thrrree back, am I corrrect?"

"I wish you'd drop that annoying rolling," Aldo sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Quistis did tell us to bring them back. They match the descriptions well, enough, so…"

The three turned to the children, and Aldo flashed them a brief smile. "Sorry, but we've got to abduct you."

"HUH?" The children screamed simultaneously.

"No need to make such a fuss," the cat woman snarled. "Rrreally!"

"Semih, give them a little credit," Ayame scolded her. "From what we've heard, they're supposed to be great warriors."

"Wow," Jila smiled to her two brothers. "We've got a reputation!"

"Fine! Feh!" Semih sighed, throwing her hands into the air. "But we've got a mission, and I'm not about to abandon it!"

"Semih's got a point," Aldo shrugged, pulling out his dagger. "I'm sorry, but if you won't come quietly, we'll have to fight you!"

"A fight?" Jila asked, and the three immediately pulled out their keyblades. "Who are you guys?"

"Those blades!" Ayame gasped.

"Yep, they've got to be the ones!" Aldo nodded. "Anyway, now you've GOT to come with us! We've got a few people who want to see you real bad…"

"They must be working for the Heartless…" Rion whispered to the two and Haru nodded.

"C'mon Jila, we've got to fight them," Haru told her, and she nodded to him.

Rion raised his head to talk to the three. "Sorry, but we're a little busy, so I'm afraid we can't come with you!"

"Man, why'd you have to go and make things difficult?" Aldo asked, sighing. "Fine! Ladies, I'm afraid we've got a fight on our hands!"

"Gladly," Semih nodded, taking out her bow.

"Right," Ayame said automatically, drawing the long blade, now revealing it to be a long katana.

"Man…" Rion shook his head. "We'll never beat them if they gang up on one of us at a time. Haru," he turned to his younger brother. "You take the woman in red. The one with the long sword."

"Huh?" he asked. "I-I can't hit girls!"

A swift wind made Haru back up suddenly. "Ack!" he shouted as he saw Ayame standing in front of him, her katana drawn. Haru looked down at his green shirt to see a razor thin cut in it. He gave a low gulp.

"I'd be more worrying about yourself," Ayame told him sternly. "Do not hold back, or you will regret it!"

"Who should I take Rion?" Jila asked.

"You take the cat woman," he told her, staring at Semih. "You're pretty fast, and you'll need speed to dodge those arrows of hers."

"So you're taking the man with the dagger?" Jila asked and Rion nodded. "Right! Here I go!"

The three jumped from their cluster towards their determined opponents.

"Oh, I see!" Semih nodded as Jila ran towards her, Keyblade outstretched. "So I get you, do I?"

"Right!" Jila nodded, throwing her blade forward, only to have Semih sidestep her and pull out one of her arrows.

"Watch out! We kitties are tougherrr then we look!" She fired the arrow, and Jila moved her head out of the way just in time to dodge it.

"HYAH!" Jila threw her keyblade forward, making Semih back off quickly, her bow still in hand. Jila stood up, ready to engage Semih again. "I'm tougher than I look too!"

Semih smiled, and licked her lips from anticipation. "This is going to be a good fight."

Meanwhile, Haru was having his own trouble with Ayame. Not only was she fast, Ayame sword was long and could reach Haru if he strayed too close. It was therefore nearly impossible to get in close enough to attack the Katana bearing beauty. "Man!" Haru snapped, jumping on top of a large box just as Ayame pierced it with the tip of her blade. "You're tough, lady!"

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment," Ayame spoke, jumping with lightning fast speed onto the box next to Haru. Haru only had a split second to block her strike with his keyblade. The two swords grinded against one another, and Haru could tell that Ayame was putting her full strength into her attack.

"KYAH!" In a lightning fast motion, he fell to his back and grabbed her ankles with his legs, throwing her over the boxes and making her topple to the ground. Kneeling up, he looked down at Ayame, who was just gaining her footing. He wiped his brow and gave her a small smirk. "Your sword may be powerful, but I doubt you can outmatch my footwork."

Ayame gave me a small smile and brought her Katana to an attacking stance once more. "We'll see about that, young warrior."

With Rion, he and Aldo had yet to make a move on each other. Each were simply circling in front of the closed shop, Aldo's dagger drawn and Rion's keyblade at the ready. "Why don't you attack?" Aldo asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm not attacking cause all I've got is this puny dagger," Aldo sighed forlornly, holding up his golden engraved dagger. "Very nice, and the craftsmanship is excellent, but it's no good for fighting."

"You're a good con artist," Rion narrowed his eyes. "But not good enough to fool me."

"I see," Aldo shrugged. "Well, how about this?" He sheathed the dagger and Rion's eyes widened at the move. "I won't even have a weapon. How's that?"

"Why are you giving me such an advantage?" Rion asked, a little confused by the man's plan.

"Maybe I like you," Aldo shrugged. A smirk then appeared on his face. "Or maybe I'm trying to lull you into a false sense of security and I've really got a deadly attack up my sleeve. Take your pick."

Rion didn't respond.

"Triple shot!" Semih called and three arrows fired from her bow at Jila. Jila yelped and dodged them quickly, falling to the ground on her knees. "You'rre a quick little on, arrren't you?"

"I-I guess…" Jila breathed heavily, rising to her feet and holding out her keyblade. "But once I get in close range, there's no way you'll be able to beat me."

"Ahh, a smarrrt obserrrvation," Semih smirked, loading her bow again. "But…the question is…" She fire the arrow, only to have it whiz right past Jila's face and stick straight into a wooden sign behind her, vibrating back and forth from the force. "Can you get within close rrrange?"

"I'm willing to try!" Jila screamed, running forward, her keyblade held forward. Semih loaded her bow again and quickly shot another arrow, but Jila was ready for it. She dodge the arrow just in time, the threw her keyblade down on Semih!

"Man!" Semih shook her head. "What a rrrush!" Semih had raised her bow just in time to block Jila's attack and throw her off. "How lucky I am to be fighting the legendarrry keyblade masterrr!"

'_Huh?'_ Jila thought to herself, looking puzzled at Semih. _'What's she talking about? Haru and Rion are both Keyblade wielders too…'_

"But let's finish this, shall we?" Semih asked, taking another arrow out of her quiver and loading it in her bow. This one, surprisingly enough, was colored a pale yellow. "I don't want to keep Quistis waiting now."

"Quistis?" Jila asked, looking up. "Who's she?"

"Don't worry," Semih smiled. "Once I beat you, you'll find out!" Semih loaded her arm back, and Jila gasped as a soft pulsating lightning gathered around the arrow. "THUNDER SHOT!" She screamed, and the arrow whizzed out of the bow, Jila dodging it just in time, only to have a small pulse of the thunder hit her.

"ARRGHH!" She screamed as she felt the pain from the spell hit her.

"Heh! Even if you can dodge the arrow, you can't dodge the thunderrr!" Semih told Jila, standing above her. "It's my special technique."

'_Man…'_ Jila gritted her teeth. _'Now even I dodge, she can hit me…what do I do?'_

"You're good on your feet!" Ayame shouted to Haru as her sword made another sharp swipe against his red-handled Keyblade. The two had been having a close combat duel, Haru: no an amateur when it came improvising attacks. Right now, the two were skitting around the alleyway, their swords constantly colliding. "But why not try and attack instead of just blocking my blade?"

"All right!" Haru smirked. "But you asked for it!" He swiped her sword away and jumped up straight in the air, catching a nearby window sill.

Ayame looked up at him, her eyebrows narrowed. "What? Are you running away! Disgraceful!"

"Who ever said anything about running away?" Haru smirked, and then pushed off the brick wall hard with his feet. His Keyblade straight out in front of him, he speared Ayame back, making her fly against the brick wall from the impact. Haru landed with utmost grace and gave her a defiant smirk. "Had enough?"

"You're a smart warrior," Ayame granted him, wiping a bit of blood from her lip. "I shall give you that. But, I'm afraid, young one, that you've counted this battle over before it has yet finished."

"I'm too fast for that heavy blade," Haru countered. "If you can't hit me, how to expect to win?"

"Quite simply," Ayame smiled, and then, in a fleeting motion that only lasted a moment, she had jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building. "I intend to corner you."

"H-how'd she do that?" Haru whispered frantically to himself. "She just jumped two stories!"

"What's the matter?" Ayame called from her perch above Haru. "Can't you jump up here as well with those quick feet of yours?"

"Dangit…" Haru gritted his teeth and held his blade in front of him. "Even if you're up there, you can't hit me if I stay down here!"

"Which is where an improvised attack comes in!"

Haru blinked and Ayame was gone. She had already jumped from her space situated comfortably on the rooftop, and was now standing gracefully on the edge of a fence. Haru looked up, but Ayame was gone again, now on a windowsill, and then, jumping to the other one. She jumped back and forth, gaining momentum until she was just a red blur to Haru's eyes.

There was no way that Haru could catch Ayame, she was going much too fast, and at any time now, when he dropped his guard, she could attack him head on. Surrounded by the red blur that was Ayame, Haru held his Keyblade out, hoping that it would provide some sort of defense against an oncoming onslaught.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Aldo asked as he and Rion circled each other for what seemed to be the hundredth time in front of the closed shop. Aldo obviously had the advantage, even though both had not even laid a finger on one another. Aldo was cunning, and knew how to mess with Rion's head. Rion, however, kept a straight poker face to the best of his ability. "You have two options. Attack me and see if I really am defenseless or I'm just bluffing." Aldo gave a wide grin, as if Rion's decision was a fun game to him. "Or, you stay there and wait for me to make a move."

'_If I attack him head on, he could hit me with some sort of attack,'_ Rion thought to himself, sweat collecting on his brow. _'Or I could win the battle. If I stay at this range, he may find a way to attack me anyway. But…' _Rion stopped, and his eyes widened, as if he had just realized something. _'If he really had a great attack that only would work at short range, then why didn't he just use it before? Why give me the option of not attacking at all? He must've known that with a sword I would use close range combat. If he didn't tell me at all, he would've had the obvious advantage.'_

Rion nodded to himself, his decision now hardened in his mind. _'This guy's smart, and I know what he's up to. He's bluffing and hoping that I'll come quietly. Well, I'm sorry Mr. Sneaky,' _Rion smirked. '_But I'm afraid I've figured out your trick.'_

"HYAH!" Rion cried, lunging forward with his blade extended to attack Aldo. Rion expected to see Aldo look horrified, but, the truth was quite the opposite. He was smiling.

"So, close range combat I see?" Aldo smiled. "So, you assumed I was bluffing. Of course, that's what the evidence would point to. Unfortunately…"

The next thing Rion knew, he had the wind knocked out of him by a huge mass of ice and spikes and he was thrown backwards onto his side. He rolled helplessly on the brick ground, still trying to recover his breath. Aldo smirked and walked over to Rion, his hand slightly icy. "Unfortunately, evidence can sometimes point to an extremely wrong conclusion."

"Wh-why…why didn't you use that attack before?" Rion panted, recovering his lungs. "I-it would have…it would have worked just as well at long range."

"I wanted to mess with your head for a bit," Aldo shrugged. "And it worked perfectly."

Rion struggled to his feet, using his Keyblade as a makeshift cane. "Wh-what was that attack?"

"Magic," Aldo told him. "You see, it works like this." His hand turned a bright red and what seemed to be a mass of fire grew in it. "FIRE!"

The fire shot towards Rion. He did his best to dodge, the fireball sent at him singed his right arm, and he cried in pain, grasping it. Panting slightly, getting over the pain, he looked at Aldo, who was now powering up another attack. "That power…"

"ARRGGH!" Jila fell to the ground as another bolt of lightning from Semih's arrow hit her in the back. Semih was already loading another arrow, this one once again shocked with the lightning power. "N-no fair! Stop using those!"

"Hey, battles arrren't about being fairrr!" Semih snapped and Jila's eyes widened. "It's about winning at all costs! Being fairrr might get you killed one day!"

"N-no way! My Dad always said that being fair in a battle is most important!" Jila retored, rising to her feet. "Whenever we fought our friends on Destiny Islands, the game was always fair!"

"This isn't a game!" said Semih coldly and Jila winced at the harsh tone. "I thought you of all people would underrrstand that!"

"Huh?" Jila looked up in confusion. "What do you mean… "Me of all people"?"

"Enough talk!" Semih released another arrow, and Jila dodged again, only to the lightning shock her again.

She winced from the pain, but she did not cry out. She grasped her shoulder, her Keyblade dangling in her hand. Tears were coming to her eyes. Was there really no way she could win…?

She glanced at her Keyblade and felt the water in her eyes start falling down her cheeks. "I thought…I was a hero…because I had this…" she whispered to herself. "But…if I can't even beat an enemy with a legendary weapon…maybe…" she bit her lip. "Maybe I'm just weak."

But her tears evaporated from her face as she threw her head up in realization. A bright smile came over her face as she rose to her feet once more triumphantly, this time holding out the Keyblade proudly. "What arrre you up to?"

"You said fights aren't about being fair!" Jila smiled. "So I'm going to use something other then my weapon!"

"What could that be?"

Jila didn't answer, she just bent down, took off her shoes, ripped off the rubber from the sole, and grasped it in her hand. She then put the shoe back on, now slightly off balance due to the height change. . She grasped her Keyblade with her now soled hand and stared triumphantly at Semih, as if she had already won just by doing the extremely silly wardrobe change.

"Wh-what arrre you doing?" Semih asked, completely dumbstruck. "You must have gotten shocked too much! You'rrre going loony!"

"Oh no," Jila shook her head. "I'm completely fine! Just try to shoot another one of those arrows at me!"

Semih growled and her ears and tail perked up in anger. "Fine! Cocky one, arrren't we?" She loaded another lightning arrow, this one pulsating with even more electricity then before. "EAT THIS!" She fired the arrow straight at Jila and Jila gave a triumphant smile.

"HYAH!" Jila held her Keyblade out and the arrow hit it dead on! The electricity flowed through the blade, and Jila's rubber sole, acting as heavy padding from the electricity, made sure that she herself wasn't getting shocked. She smiled at the lightning pulsated through the blade and she then looked at Semih triumphantly. "Now, time to get a taste of your own medicine!"

In a swift motion, and the shocked Semih completely immobilized from surprise, Jila ran forward, her Keyblade still positioned in her hand, and made a swift hit across Semih's body.

"ARRGGHH!" Semih cried as the channeled lightning electrocuted her with three times more power then any shock Jila had received due to the channeling and the swift cut. She writhed from the shock, then fell to her knees, obviously in serious pain. "Y-you…I can't believe it. How'd you come up with that trrrick?"

"I remembered the rubber on the soles of my shoes!" Jila said triumphantly. "If the electricity could be channeled through the metal in the Keyblade, I was sure that I could strike you with the same power your arrows struck against me! Only since the Keyblade is much more conducting then your arrows are, the attack was even stronger!"

"And the rrrubber was to make surrre you didn't get shocked as well…" Semih shook her head, smiling lightly. "You beat me. You rrreally arre the legendarrry Keyblade Wielderr."

"G-good…to…hear…it…" Jila laughed, then, collapsed in front of Semih from her exhaustion. Semih shook her head and patted Jila on her shoulder.

"Kind of irrronic that you should be capturrred afterrr winning the fight…" Semih smiled at Jila. "But, at least you can come back to wherrre you belong, rrright?"

"Attack already!" Haru snapped to Ayame. The two were still in the alley, and Ayame had yet to make a decisive move. She was still a blur, jumping from fence to windowsill, to roof, to crate, to wherever she could get her feet on. Haru desperately tried to follow her movements, but it was impossible.

"Don't even try to know where I'm going to attack from," Ayame's voice spoke, but it was in echo, as if bouncing off the alley walls. "I'm moving so fast there's no way that you can catch me."

"Says you!" Haru snapped, slicing his Keyblade near a crate, only to cut thin air.

"Getting frustrated are we?" Ayame asked. "Do you know how momentum works?"

"Umm…not really…"

"Momentum is the constant speed of an object, or how fast it's moving," Ayame told Haru. "It's determined by mass and velocity. But, if I increase my velocity, I can increase my momentum."

"So?"

"That's the scientific definition of momentum," Ayame told him, Haru still looking around for a sight of the crimson beauty. "But there's another one that's used more often. Momentum is the gaining of speed in a certain path."

"Again, so?"

"You're not really a scholar are you? Anyway, if I keep going in the same path, then I can increase my speed until you can't even see where I'm going. It's quite simple, actually. I'll just keep getting faster until the wind from my movement carries my body by itself."

"So…you're just going to keep getting faster?" Haru asked.

"Yes," Ayame told him. "But, if I break that momentum at exactly the right time, I'll have perfect speed in which to deliver the final blow of this battle."

'_Dangit…' _Haru bit his lip as Ayame continued to circle him. '_She's just going to keep getting faster with that dumb "momentum" science thing until she's got the perfect attack lined up to take me down! How am I supposed to beat that?' _Haru closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. _'Okay Haru…all you got to do is break that "momentum" thing that she's got going on. But how? She's going way too fast for me to know where she could possibly be. Even my fastest attack might miss. It's all too risky.'_

Haru's brow furrowed. He knew he was running out of time. Ayame was getting faster and any moment know, she would break out of her cycle and attack him dead on.

…Break out of her cycle…

"_You're not really a scholar are you? Anyway, if I keep going in the same path, then I can increase my speed until you can't even see where I'm going. It's quite simple, actually. I'll just keep getting faster until the wind from my movement carries my body by itself."_

'_That's it!' _Haru thought to himself, laughing slightly. He turned towards a window sill that the red blur had passed just a few moments ago, then passed again, and again. Ayame was going so fast now, Haru knew he couldn't catch her just by attacking random spots where she might be. He knew what to do.

"HYAH!" In a fleeting motion, Haru bent down on his knees, mustered all the power in his legs that he could, and jumped as high as possible up to the windowsill.

"I already told you! I'm too fast for your blade to attack!"

"That may be so!" Haru nodded as his hand grasped the sill. "But if I stay in your path of motion, then you'll have to run into me sooner or LATER!" With a muster of muscle strength, Haru threw himself onto the sill, and the next thing he knew, Ayame had collided with him and the two were falling to the ground. But Haru was ready. He grabbed Ayame's waist and turned her around in the air to face the ground.

The two fell, and Ayame took the brunt of the fall, landing painfully on her arm. "ARGH!" She screamed and Haru blinked as he felt hard ground. He got up off Ayame and looked at her on the ground. He himself had a few bruises from the fall, but he guessed that Ayame was in much worse shape.

"Here…" he held out his hand to her, and she looked up, taking it. "You okay?"

"How did you think of that?" Ayame asked, feeling her arm. "Blocking my path. You didn't even know how momentum works."

"But you told me," Haru reminded her, smiling. "I may not be the smartest guy around, but I can listen pretty good! You said that you had to move in the same path and that the wind from your cycle carried your body by itself! Therefore, stopping and redirecting your path before you ran into me would be completely impossible. My sword strokes may have been to slow, but if my entire body was in the way, there's no way that you could have dodged me."

"You…you really can work well in battle," Ayame smiled, walking over to the edge of the alley and looking at the starry night sky. "I'm amazed. You have defeated me."

"Heh! Thanks!" Haru laughed boastfully. "You fought really well too, though!"

"Unfortunately…" Ayame sighed, holding her shoulder and clutching her Katana with her other hand. "I cannot let you leave this place without coming with me."

The next thing Haru knew, Ayame had grabbed a small box and thrown it at his head. The box made full contact with the off guard Haru's head and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Ayame walked over to him, shaking her head. "You may be a powerful warrior…but your name says what you're all about."

"BLIZZARD!" Aldo fired more ice spikes Rion's way, and Rion dodged just in time to miss the brunt of the attack. He winced as a spike passed his arm, causing a small cut. Rion was already bruised, cut, and battered from the magical battle with Aldo. What had once been a battle of the minds had turned into an all out battering of Rion on Aldo's part.

Rion didn't know how he could combat Aldo's powerful magic that was being constantly fired at him. "FIRE!" Aldo threw another spell, and Rion was thrown back by the force of the fire ball.

"Darn…" muttered Rion as he rose to his feet, his blue-handle keyblade supporting him. "This fight is way too one-sided!"

"I don't know what you're doing over there!" Aldo called to Rion in response to Rion's observation. "Why don't you use some of your magic?"

"Huh?" Rion looked up at Aldo, confused. "B-but…I don't have any magic."

"Yeah you do!" Aldo said. "Are you trying to con me or something?"

Rion looked at Aldo, desperate to find out what the man could possibly mean. Rion didn't have access to magic, as far as he knew that is. He had never been able to conjure up Fire and Ice into his hands from sheer will power. On Destiny Islands, no one had been able to cast…

"_Firaga!" yelled Rion letting the heavy blaze fly from his Keyblade at Darkside._

He HAD used magic! Twice before! First when they fought Darkside in the strange stained-glass room and once more when they fought him on Destiny Islands! But Rion didn't know how to control that magic… It had just come from nowhere.

"I…I can't use it," Rion told Aldo. "I forgot."

"You…you forgot?" Aldo asked, flabbergasted. "That's too bad."

"It was really powerful magic too," Rion told him. "Way more powerful then what you're firing."

"Well of course," Aldo nodded. "My magic is second rate compared to yours."

"How do you know about my magic?" Rion asked, eyeing Aldo suspiciously. "How can you possibly know about it?"

"I'd guess we all know about it," Aldo shrugged. "You're pretty famous you know."

"I-I am?" Rion asked, his eyebrow quirking.

"Yeah, you and your companions," said Aldo. "But now's not the time. I've got a fight to win!"

"I can't let you!" Rion shook his head. "I'll find a way to use my magic again!"

"Well," Aldo smiled at Rion and powered up his energy again. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen. BLIZZARD!" The spell threw itself from Aldo's hands again and Rion rolled to get out of the way of the ice spikes.

"THUNDER!"

Rion fell to the ground as the shock came down through his body. "Arrgh! What the?"

"You thought that I just had those two simple spells?" Aldo asked. "Nope, I've got loads more in my stock."

'_His list of surprises is endless…' _Rion thought bitterly. _'If only I could access that magic like before!'_

"FIRA!" A new, more powerful flame leapt at Rion, and he was thrown back from the new power. He cursed his luck as he lay like a helpless worm on the ground. His closed his eyes and curled his fists in frustration.

"Darn…"

"Hmm…seems Semih and Ayame have your two little friends." Rion's eyes leapt open and he rose to his knees immediately to see Aldo looking over at Semih, who had Jila in her arms, and Ayame, who had thrown Haru over her shoulder. "I guess they were no match for them. Once I corral you, our job is done."

"GUYS!" Rion cried out to the two, but they did not respond. They were out cold, and Semih and Ayame, although they looked extremely wounded, had complete control over them. "GUYS, WAKE UP!" Rion felt tears coming to his eyes, and he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"_Rion?" Rion turned around to face his mother as she held the small toddler Jila in her arms. Haru was running around the house, playing with their father. Rion was five and had been playing on the ground with his toys. He looked up at his mother as she put Jila on the couch and sat down next to him. "Rion, honey, why don't you play with Jila?"_

"_I don't want to play with her," Rion responded, putting another piece in the puzzle he was playing with. "All she ever does is drool and get in my way! I don't want to play with dumb little kids!"_

"_Rion, bite your tongue!" Rion looked up at his mother's harsh scolding. Her face looked angry. "Haru and Jila are your younger siblings! You're the big brother! You have a responsibility to take care of them!"_

"_But I don't want to…"_

"_Look Rion," Kairi smiled, enveloping her oldest son in a soft hug. "Sometimes, Daddy and I aren't going to be here."_

"_Wh-where are you going? I don't want you to go Mommy!"_

"_I'm not going anywhere," Kairi chuckled soothingly. "But…if your Daddy or Mommy isn't around, you've got to take care of Jila and Haru. Will you promise me that you'll do that?"_

_Rion looked down at his puzzle, and then back up at his mother. "What if I can't, Mommy?"  
_

"_You'll be able to," Kairi assured him, giving him a soft kiss on the head. "So, do you promise me?"_

"_I…" Rion gave her a smile and nodded. "I promise Mommy!"_

"What's wrong with you?" Aldo asked curiously. Rion was shaking on the ground, tears filling up his eyes, threatening to fall down his cheeks. "You okay?"

"I failed, Mom!" Rion clenched his fists and pounded the brick ground. "I couldn't protect them… I'm sorry."

"Hey!" Aldo called to Rion. "Hey there! You in there? Have you lost your mind? This is just perfect. Hey Semih, Ayame, bring those two back to Quistis! She'll deal with them there."

…Deal with them there…?

"No."

"Huh?" Aldo looked back to see Rion rising to his feet, his fists that held his keyblade shaking.

"I said no."

"What are you talking about?"

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING THEM!" Rion cried, and held out his Keyblade to face Aldo. "YOU'RE NOT TAKING THEM!" A powerful energy gathered in his keyblade, and a blue icy wind gathered around him, making his hair lift from the wind. He stared at Aldo, his eyes red, bloodshot, and looking to kill. "I WON'T LET YOU!" He held his Keyblade straight out in front of him and cried:

"BLIZZAGA!"

The stream of magical ice shot forward, knocking Aldo off his feet and ramming him straight into the wall behind him. The ice pinned him against the hard brick, and he coughed a bit of blood from the impact. "My…what power! You remembered your magic after all!"

"Yeah…and now…and now you're going to, let them…" Rion didn't finish his sentence as he felt his strength being drained from him. In a second, he fell to the ground with a dull "thud" and was out cold.

"What in the worlds was that?" Ayame asked, helping Aldo break free of his icy prison. After about a minute of struggle, they were able to break out as Semih walked over to them, staring at Rion. "That magic…it must be them after all."

"No doubt about it," Semih shook her head. "All of them hold the skills of the thrrree we'rrre looking forrr."

"Then let's bring them back," Aldo sighed, feeling his stomach. "Ouch…I'm going to feel that in the morning, that's for sure."

"Quistis is waiting," Ayame reminded them, placing Haru over her shoulder once more and beckoning them forward. "Come."

Semih nodded to Aldo and walked over to Jila. She picked her up gently and followed Ayame. Aldo heaved Rion over his shoulder and followed the two females.

"Man…" Aldo shook his head, looking at Rion. "And you said you had forgotten how to use your magic. I wonder what brought on that powerful burst."

Rion, of course, did not answer, but faintlygrimaced as the three walked on, passing through the large doors that led to the next district of Traverse Town.

* * *

"Hmm…?"

A fuzzy image came to the eyes of Jila as she blinked a few times. Finally, her vision focused and she found herself staring at a green ceiling in some sort of small room. "Where…where am I?" She sat up, rubbing her head to see Rion and Haru sitting in chairs, just waking up themselves. "Guys?"

"Wh-where are we?" Haru asked, rubbing his head. "Ow," he winced. "That box still hurts."

"I thought that they would kill us the minute they took us to this Quistis person," Rion sighed. "It seems that they have other plans for us."

"Are we in danger?" Jila asked, biting her lip.

"I can't say for sure…" Rion looked at his feet. "I…I'm sorry I couldn't stop them… I'm so sorry guys."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Haru said, clamping his older brother's shoulder. Rion looked up and saw Jila smiling at him from behind Haru. "Man, bro, you sure have picked up on this "maturity" thing."

"I think we all have," Jila sighed. "This situation is serious, I've come to realize that. It isn't just some game on our Island anymore."

"You're right," Haru nodded. "We could've been seriously hurt or killed back there. Whatever's happened to Dad, he's in serious trouble, just like we are."

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..."

"Rion," Haru smiled at his older brother. "Hey, I never answered your question back in the ship. About whether I liked the new you or not?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You're fine just the way you are, bro," Haru told him assuringly. Rion looked up at him, a look of surprise on his face. "You're Rion, and you'll always be Rion, even if you get a little more mature here and there. Hey," he winked, "you had to grow up sometime."

"But at least we're here together!" Jila smiled at her brothers and threw her arms around them. "As long as we have each other, we're okay, right?"

Rion smiled and nodded to his sister. Haru blushed a light red and nodded, as if embarrassed.

"Are you sure these are the right ones?" A muffled voice asked from outside, and the three children stood up, their eyes narrowed.

"Yes, Quistis. They match the descriptions and everything. Hey, if you don't believe us, ask Squall." Aldo's voice could be heard outside the door as well.

"Squall, you come in and check with me. You'll know if it's them."

"I've told you a million times, it's Leon now."

"Please! Enough of your immature name changing! You let me call you Squall before."

"Around these guys, it's Leon, got that?"

"Leon? Squall?" Haru asked. "That name sounds familiar. The "Leon" one at least…"

"Yeah, it's on the tip of my tongue," Jila nodded. "Who is it?"

"Well, whoever he is, this Quistis person is about to make her presence known," Rion told them. "Be cautious."

The lock clicked and the doorknob turned slowly. The three children drew their blades and waited for whatever was on the other side of the door. The door swung open slowly and two people walked in, followed by Aldo, Semih, and Ayame.

The first was a man with dark brown hair, a scar across his face, wearing a leather jacket, white shirt, and Lion Necklace. He wore black pants with tall boots and many belts. He looked to be in around his forties, maybe a little younger.

The woman that walked behind him looked much younger then the man, but the children could tell that they were around the same age from the way they acted around one another. She wore a tight pink top that revealed her navel and had no sleeves. She wore black gloves and a tight pink skirt and tall black boots to match. She had curves galore, and her hair, a lovely blonde, was kept up in a bun with a ponytail of hair streaming down. With bright blue eyes and slim lights, this woman was definitely the word "knock-out" personified.

"I'm assuming the woman is Quistis," Haru whispered to his siblings and they nodded. "And the man is…Squall."

"So, here you go," Aldo nodded to the two. "The three you wanted. We found 'em walking around town. They put up quite a fight, kicked all of our butts, and then passed out cold from exhaustion."

"So therrre you go!" Semih nodded to Squall and Quistis.

"We've fulfilled our mission," Ayame added.

Squall stared at the three children with his bone-chilling eyes, and then said, quite distinctly: "You're all a bunch of idiots."

"HUH?" The three asked, backing off. Aldo had interjected. "What are you talking about? We have the three you want right here!" He pointed to Jila. "Sora!" His finger moved to Haru. "Goofy!" And finally, he pointed at Rion. "And Donald!"

"Sora…?" Jila asked, pointing to herself.

"Goofy?" Haru asked, a little miffed.

"Donald?" Rion wondered out loud.

"They match the descriptions perfectly," Aldo said to the two again. "Red outfit with Keyblade," he pointed to Jila and she fingered her red vest. "Green clothes and a goofy expression," he pointed once again to Haru and Haru grew slightly mad at being called "goofy expression". "And a blue ensemble with high magic powers!" He pointed to Rion, and Rion didn't even bother to answer.

"Oh yes," Quistis murmured, obviously angry about the mix-up. "Of course, they match the descriptions perfectly! Except for the fact that Sora is MALE, Goofy is a walking DOG, and Donald is a DUCK."

"You three really screwed up this time, didn't you?" Squall asked, shaking his head. "Who are these three? And why do they have…" He stopped, and his eyes widened. "Where did you get those?"

He ran over to Jila and yanked the Keyblade out of her hand. "Ow!" She winced, but the minute Squall had got his grip on it, the Keyblade disappeared and flown back into Jila's hand.

"It's the real thing…" Quistis whispered to Squall. "They really are Keyblade wielders."

"This is impossible," Squall shook his head. "But it's happening. Hey, do you think they know anything about Sora?"

"They might," Quistis nodded. "We should bring them to the others."

"…Whatever…" Squall walked over to the three children. "You're coming with us. They're some people we want you to meet."

"Are you working with the Heartless?" Haru asked.

"No, actually, quite the opposite," Quistis responded, stepping forward and smiling gently. "We're against the Heartless. We need you to come with us to see a few people and help us explain a few things."

"You don't have a choice," Squall told them. "You're coming with us."

"Squall!" Quistis snapped.

"That's Leon…"

"Well, if we don't have a choice," Rion sighed, standing up and sheathing his Keyblade. His siblings followed suit and nodded. "Then we'll go with you."

"Perfect," Quistis smiled. "My name is Quistis Trepe. Pleased to meet you."

All three children shook her hand, then turned to the man, as if expecting him to make an introduction. But, they were disappointed as he, Aldo, Semih, and Ayame walked out of the room and into a hall. Quistis turned to them and smiled warmly. "Shall we go?"

"Umm…yes!" Jila nodded, and the three children stood up, looked after the others in the hall, and then followed Quistis out of the room.

* * *

The End of the chapter! My God, that took forever! That fight scene was the majority of the chapter, but man, have the kids got a lot in store for them! Man, I have to finish Traverse Town next chapter! Hope I can do it! (I may to divide it into three chapters, but I don't think I'll have to.)

Anyway! Don't forget to review!

Sammy

Omake: Character Profiles

Aldo (FFXI): Aldo is the leader of the Tenshodo and the first canon character you see in Final Fantasy XI. Losing his sister to a band of beastmen at a young age, Aldo has learned to fend for himself in Jeuno. The Tenshodo is involved in a lot of underhanded deals, and are also involved in the pirate city, Norg.

Ayame (FFXI): Ayame is a Mythril Musketeer of the Republic of Bastok and a Samurai. As you can see, she uses a Katana in the story, and her costume is almost identical to her costume in Final Fantasy XI. Ayame is a proud Musketeer, who's just a powerful as she is beautiful.

Semih Lafinah (FFXI): Semih is a Mithra (Cat woman) and the leader of the band of Rangers in Windurst. She's also a private friend of the Star Sibyl, the leader of Windurst. Semih is the lovely woman who sends many adventurers out on missions. She's sharp with a bow and hopes to uncover the truth behind many strange happenings in Windurst.

Quistis Trepe (FFVIII): Quistis Trepe is Squall's instructor in Final Fantasy VIII and a member of SeeD. She's confident and a definite leader, although she sometimes questions her own abilities.


	5. Level Five: Traverse Town Part II

Author's Notes: Hey there everyone! This is Sammy, back with level 5 of Keyblade Master Chronicles! I hope you all enjoy it! Hope I can get this level done and the kids out of Traverse Town! Eeeks!

* * *

**Level 5 – Traverse Town Part II**

"Man…this sure is weird," Haru whispered to his two siblings as they got up and followed Squall, Quistis, and the others down a decorated hall. A desk was at the end, and the walls had pictures hanging on them. The children could only assume that this was some sort of Hotel. "Where do you think they're taking us?"

"We're not going to experiment on you or something like that," Aldo snapped from behind them, and Haru blushed at being overheard. "Man…kids these days."

"Here we are." Quistis turned on her high heel to a room with a red door decorated with a golden symbol. She pushed it open quietly, and the other four followed after her, Ayame holding the door open for the children. They looked at one another, then nodded, and stepped into the room.

"Leon! There you are! Did you find 'em?"

"No," the man, whom the children thought was named Squall, now strangely called Leon, shook his head. "These idiots got mixed up…" he shot looks near Semih, Ayame, and Aldo.

The children looked around the room to see three more people waiting for them in the red room. The one who had spoken had been a young looking woman with short blackish hair wearing a green cut off top with thick straps and very short off-white shorts. She also wore long socks, stretching up past her knees, and arm pieces that matched her socks. She also wore a headband that kept her hair in place. She was grinning. "Hah! So they picked up those three?" she asked, pointing to Rion, Haru, and Jila.

"Yes, Yuffie, unfortunately, they did," Quistis sighed, shaking her head. "But…"

"They were unable to locate Sora?" the other woman in the room asked, looking very alarmed. The children turned to her to see she was a pretty young woman, probably in her thirties or early forties, with a high braid of light brown hair held up with a bright red bow that matched her cropped jacket. Under the jacket, she wore a pink dress and a pair of boots. The woman sighed and took off her jacket. She looked upset by the news. "But…but I was sure…"

"Aerith…" Quistis looked apologetic towards the woman.

"So, your hunch about the ship was wrong," Yuffie shrugged. "It'll be okay, Aerith. We'll find Sora."

"We have to…" Leon narrowed his eyes toward the last person in the room, and as the three children turned towards him, they gasped.

The man was obviously either asleep or dead. He had spiked blonde hair, and his forehead was covered with a bandage. His face was pale, and he was covered by a thick blanket. The children assumed the worse.

"Oh my gosh!" Jila screamed. "He's dead!"

"No!" Aerith shook her head at Jila. "He's not…he…" Aerith's eyes started to fill with tears, and she kneeled beside the man and took his pale hand out of the blankets. "He's…still alive…"

"Barely," Aldo cut in.

"Aldo!" Quistis rasped.

"What happened to him?" Rion asked, walking forward towards the bed where the man lay. "Is he just asleep?"

"No," Leon stepped forward, shaking his mane of brown hair.

"We'll explain everything in a bit," Quistis assured them, sitting Jila and Haru down on a couple of chairs. "Just be patient."

"Why do we have to explain everything to just a bunch of kids that got mixed up with us?" Yuffie asked bluntly. "It's none of their business."

"Ma'am?" Jila addressed Aerith, and Aerith looked up from the man in bed.

"Yes…?"

"You mentioned… 'Sora', didn't you?" Jila asked.

"Man! No one has any patience arrround herrre!" Semih stepped forward, and then sat down. "Let's start, shall we, with why these thrrree arrree even herrre…"

"That's what I'd like to know," Yuffie cut in, nodding. "Hey Leon, I'd like an explanation!"

Leon started to massage his temples, as if he could feel a headache coming on. He gave a heavy sigh and nodded. "All right…let's start."

* * *

"So…after this 'battle' and I use the term lightly," Leon sighed. The entire group had gathered around Leon, who, from what the children could gather, acted as the leader of this gang of misfits. "These three were brought back to us by our three resident idiots."

"After the very likely mix-up," Aldo growled. "The three revealed themselves to not be the people that we once thought they were."

"Introduce yourselves," Quistis whispered to the three encouragingly and they blushed.

"Umm…I'm Jila."

"My name's Haru."

"And I'm Rion."

"I'm still not getting the importance," Yuffie sighed. "What's so great about these three kids?"

"It turns out…" Leon looked over at Quistis, then faced the entire group. "That these three have been chosen by the power of the Keyblade."

Yuffie and Aerith's eyes widened at that statement, and they looked at each other, then at the three kids, who were starting to feel like a spectacle at a museum. "You serious, Leon?" Yuffie asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Show 'em," Leon commanded. The three looked at each other, and, not wanting to turn down such a cold and solid request, unsheathed their Keyblades in a flash of light. Aerith gave a light gasp.

"Woah! That's cool!" Yuffie grinned. "More Keyblade wielders! Are they real?"

"True Keyblades," Quistis nodded, smiling lightly. "Squall…I mean, Leon, tested them out."

"Leon…Yuffie…Aerith," Rion chewed the names lightly. "Do those names sound familiar to you guys?"

"Slightly…" Jila nodded. "But…Dad didn't use a lot of names in his stories…maybe mentioned 'em once or twice."

"Dad?" Leon asked.

He wasn't answered. The children were obviously much more interested in what they were saying to each other to pay attention to him. "Wait…" Haru stopped, then smiled. "I remember! Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith! All three of you were mentioned in Dad's stories!"

"That's right!" Jila suddenly realized. "Leon was the warrior with the Gunblade! And Yuffie was the spunky ninja!"

"And Aerith was the gentle soul that Dad mentioned," Rion nodded. "All three of you knew our Dad…"

The three looked at each other, slightly confused. "Umm…who's your Dad? We're not sure we know him," Yuffie asked.

"You mentioned him!" Jila pointed to Aerith. "Our Dad is Sora!"

The three looked at each other, slightly perplexed. Leon shrugged it off. "W-Wait…Sora's your father?"

"Well, it fits as far as time goes," Yuffie shrugged. "But triplets? Woah!"

"We're not triplets," Haru shook his head. "I'm the middle child, Jila's a year younger then me, and Rion's a year older."

"Wait…I'm confused," Yuffie grasped her head, as if she was getting a throbbing head ache from all the information that was being stuffed into her brain. "The Keyblade is hereditary?"

"We don't know why…" Jila told them. "But we have the Keyblades right now. Our Island was destroyed, and our mom was kidnapped."

"I'm assuming your mother's name is Kairi?" Aerith asked, smiling gently. Jila nodded, blushing lightly. "She was kidnapped you say?" Her smile disappeared.

"Yes…" Jila nodded.

"And Sora went after her?" Yuffie asked, slightly alarmed.

"No," Rion told them, standing up. When he stood up and looked at them all in the eye, he looked even more like an adult then usual. "Like us, our father was thrown into another world. We're not sure which one. We assumed it was this one, so we came here from Disney Castle in a Gummi Ship…" He cut off at that and looked at his siblings.

"Uhh…yeah…" Haru nodded, blushing crimson.

"Who lent you a Gummi Ship?" Quistis asked. "The King?"

"No…" Haru shook his head. "The King…"

"What happened to the King?" Leon asked, looking slightly alarmed.

The children looked at one another, Jila and Haru especially looking towards Rion for support. He nodded to the two of them, giving them the okay to go ahead. Jila held back, but Haru answered Leon's question, standing next to Rion and speaking with firmness.

"His heart…was stolen."

The eyes in the room grew wide, and Yuffie's eyebrows narrowed. "You're lying!" she snapped. "The King is one of the strongest people in all of the universe! Are you saying his heart was just stolen under his nose? You're obviously lying!"

"No, we're not!" Jila assured her, standing up and shaking her head, frowning. "We swear!"

"What reason do we have to lie?" Rion asked.

"Look, all we know about you is you have strange Keyblades!" Yuffie snapped back. "You could be lying about everything else just to get an edge on information for the Heartless!"

"Yuffie…" Aerith looked up at the defiant ninja woman, who was now staring down the three children.

"Th-there's no way the King wo-"

"Yuffie, that's enough," Quistis said calmly, standing up. Yuffie turned to Quistis.

"But, Quisty!"

"I understand your worry…and your doubt," Quistis nodded. "But overreacting like this isn't going to solve anything."

Even Leon was looking shocked. He was massaging his temples and frowning, as if thinking. "H-how…how could someone like the King have his heart stolen?"

"Wait…is he a Heartless then?" Aldo asked and Jila shook her head.

"No, he's just stone cold. Almost like he's dead…" Jila stopped, and her eyes widened as she turned to the man in the bed. "Could it be…?"

"No," Leon shook his head and the three turned to him. "It's not what you think. Cloud here…he's…he's in a coma at the moment. He was attacked by a mass amount of Heartless and…"

"Cloud?" Haru asked, looking at his siblings. "Dad…he said he faced him in battle! The One-Winged Warrior with the bandaged sword!"

"That's right!" Jila nodded. "So now…he's in a coma?"

"Yes," Aerith nodded, finally getting to her feet and walking over to Cloud. She held his hand again, then pressed it to her face. "This man…Cloud…my husband…he defended the Hollow Bastion against the Heartless when they attacked…" she explained, tears filling her eyes. "But…the next thing we all knew…"

"Your…husband?" Haru asked, furrowing his brow. "Th-that's awful…"

"Dammit!" The room full of people turned around to see Leon putting his force into a kick and rattling the bed post on the extra bed in the room. Leon gritted his teeth. "The idiot! Every time I think of it, it makes me so angry!"

"Sq…Leon…" Quistis started.

"He shouldn't have tried to defend the Castle by himself!" Leon shook his head. "And her!"

"'Her'?" Jila asked curiously. "Who's her?"

No one spoke, but the children could get a definite feeling from the room that they all knew the answer to the question. Surprisingly, it was the person whom the children expected not to hear who spoke.

"A-Ae…ce…" Cloud muttered, as if struggling to say the word. The three children looked at him excitedly, but the sign of life from Cloud didn't seem to astound the rest of the room.

"Aece," Leon finished. "That's all he ever mutters."

"What's Aece?" Haru asked.

"Not what, who," Yuffie corrected. "She's…"

"She's my daughter…" Aerith murmured, stroking Cloud's hand. "Our daughter…"

"Wh-where is she?" Haru asked. The three children expected the worst. If the girl's father was in such a horrible condition, what fate could have befallen her?

"She's not dead, if that's what you're getting at." The next thing Haru knew, Leon had a firm grip on his green jacket and was holding his face close to his. "Aece isn't dead."

"Leon…" Aerith turned to him, and Leon put Haru down, cursing under his breath.

"Leon was just really attached to Aece," Yuffie explained. "She used to call him "Uncle" even…" Yuffie looked down…her eyes grew misty. "She used to call me "Big Sis"…"

"Aece…" Aerith broke in, turning from Cloud to the three children, "is missing."

"Missing?" Jila asked. "In this town? Why aren't we looking for her?"

"She's not in this town," Leon shook his head, returning to leaning against the bed post. "We don't know where she is."

"How long has she been gone?" Haru asked. "Maybe she's somewhere _near_ the town? We can search for her!"

The three, Aeris, Leon, and Yuffie, looked at each other, then at Cloud. Yuffie bit her lip, then turned to the three. "Aece…went missing twelve years ago."

"Tw-twelve years?" Haru asked, and all three looked to be in shock. "Why didn't you look for her?"

"You don't think we tried?" Leon snapped, obviously angry at Haru's accusation. "Look-"

"There is no need to go on, Leon," Quistis said calmly, rising to her feet and walking to face the three children. "Yuffie, although very blatant with her previous accusation, has a point."

"Huh?" Yuffie asked, her eyes wide. "What do you mean Quisty?"

"We have no proof that you are trust worthy," Quistis said straight out to the children. "Or that you truly came from the King. Telling you anymore might be dangerous to ourselves and others…"

"But we _are_ from the King!" Jila insisted to Quistis.

"Oh yeah?" Yuffie narrowed her eyebrows and stepped forward. "Prove it!"

"We don't have any proof," Rion told them, his voice shaking slightly. "You just have to believe us!"

"How are we supposed to know?" Yuffie asked.

"What about the Keyblades?" Semih asked, stepping forward.

"Yes…" Quistis nodded. "The Keyblades are peculiar…but what if the Heartless got a few Keyblade wielders on their side? We have no idea who's controlling them this time. I think Yuffie has a veritable reason for doubt."

"B-but…" Aerith started.

"How do we know that the King sent you?" Yuffie shouted. "How are we supposed to know that you _actually_ came from the castle?"

"Oh…they came from the Castle all right," a voice from behind them spoke with a husky low texture to his voice. The door behind the three children closed, and when they all flipped around to see who was behind them, they saw none other then a man with blonde graying hair in a sharp short cut wearing a white shirt, a large orange belt, and navy blue pants. He held what looked like a long toothpick in his teeth, and on his forehead was a headband. The man dug into his pockets and came out with his fist enclosed around something. When he opened it, the children gave short gasps to see that it was none other a burnt red piece of their former Gummi Ship. "Found this outside the gates. Well…there's a lot more of it then this, but I got to tell you,_ it's_ in no better shape then this piece of scrap."

* * *

"So, you're sure that it came from a Disney Castle Gummi Ship?" Yuffie asked. The man had sat down with the scrap piece and explained to the group that, while he was out, he had found a half-destroyed Gummi Ship that could have only belonged to one world: The Disney Castle. (In turn, the group had explained the situation that Jila, Haru, and Rion found themselves in to the man.)

"So I was right…" Aerith murmured. "Only it wasn't Sora in that crashing ship I saw from the sky."

"Yep," the man nodded, scratching his nose lightly. "These twerps obviously came from the King."

"So…you saw the ship?" Rion asked, slightly pink.

"Yeah, what the heck attacked you guys?" the man asked.

"Umm…we were attacked by Heartless…and had to umm…speed up."

"So you crashed straight into the ground?" the man asked, and Rion's ears turned red. "You need more practice kid."

"How did you know our ship was a Gummi Ship?"

"Heh! I'm a bit of an expert on Gummi Ships myself," the man said, scratching his nose lightly. "Name's Cid by the way."

"I'm Jila," Jila told him. "And these are my older brothers, Haru and Rion."

"Pleased to meetcha," he nodded to the three, then turned to his companions. "So, as I was saying, these three no doubt came from the King."

"So they were telling us the truth," Quistis nodded to the others and they nodded back.

"And…and that means…" Yuffie looked at her feet. "That the King must be really…I mean…"

"Yes," Leon said, standing up from his position and moving to the center of the room. "The King's heart has been stolen and Donald and Goofy sent you three to find it."

"Not only that," Rion reminded him, also standing. "But also to find our dad and mom. Both Sora and Kairi are missing."

"So…now that we've proven ourselves…" Jila spoke softly. "Can you guys tell us how you got here?"

Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith looked at each other and Leon nodded to the two females, as if to assure them that he had the situation under control. "We originally came from a place called 'Hollow Bastion'," Leon explained to them. "Twelve years ago, the castle was attacked by Heartless. We were all forced to abandon the Castle and fly in an escape Gummi Ship Cid had built."

"But you're really strong!" Jila told them. "Our Dad said so!"

"The Heartless attacked in such huge numbers that there was no way we could fend them off ourselves!" Yuffie explained crossly. "They came in a huge army; we had no choice but to run."

"But Cloud chose to stay and protect the Castle…" Leon narrowed his eyes towards Cloud. "Or…more of protect Aece."

"His daughter," Rion reminded himself and Leon nodded.

"Yes…the Heartless had them both cornered. Cloud did his best to fend them off before he finally fell to their attack. It was a miracle Cid was able to snatch Aece and throw her into a small escape ship in time."

"Miracle nuttin," Cid shook his head. "Cloud distracted the Heartless enough for me to grab the little soldier. I..." Cid looked at his boots and shook his head. "I guess she's not so little anymore, is she?"

"After we escaped the castle," Leon told the three children, "our ship sailed along until we accidentally crash landed in a new world."

"We were attacked by Heartless," Yuffie sighed. "There ships were no match for our one vessel, so we were forced to land."

"And the Heartless didn't follow you?" Haru asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

"They tried," Leon explained. "But, it just so happens that our luck happened to be extremely high that day."

"We had landed in a world in which the Heartless could not enter because of a barrier put up by the World's ruler," Aerith told the three children.

"A…barrier?" Jila asked skeptically.

"Yeah!" Yuffie nodded. "That was our first reaction too. Sounded like a bunch of superstitious crud to me, but, it turns out the barrier was put up to prevent the entrance of demons. Little did the inhabitants of the place know…"

"That that same barrier kept the Heartless out of their world," Leon finished Yuffie's sentence, then continued with the explanation. "So, we stayed there for about eleven years."

"Eleven years?" Haru asked. "That seems so long."

"Actually, it wasn't," Cid sighed, shaking his head. "It turns out that the world we landed in had a difference in time passing as well."

"Time ran much slower," Aldo interjected.

"So, therrreforrre," Semih told them. "Eleven yearrrrs seemed much less to us."

"Wait…" Jila scratched her head. "I thought you would just age slower."

"That's not how it works," Yuffie shook her head. "Once you're born in a world, you age the way that world ages, no matter what. If one year passes in your home world, it doesn't matter where you are, you're aging one year."

"It seems…" Leon looked at the three children. "That time runs pretty much the same in the Hollow Bastion as it does on Destiny Islands. Judging by your ages."

"But," Yuffie said, "this world ran much, MUCH slower, and the only way we could tell that time was passing quickly was by watching ourselves get gray hairs!"

"We knew that we had to get to a place where time wasn't slipping out of our fingers," Leon told them. "Aece needed us you see."

"And, we werrre given a purrrety loud wake-up call to tell us to get out of therrre," Semih grimaced.

"The ruler who had been supporting the barrier passed away you see," Aerith explained. "And was replaced by her young daughter. Unfortunately, the daughter did not have the same mental power to keep up the barrier, and the Heartless came after us…"

"The World was attacked, just like the Bastion," Squall bit his lip and narrowed his eyes. "And once again, we escaped only narrowly with our lives. That's how we ended up here, in Traverse Town. We've been here for a couple of months. We don't seem to be aging too fast either, so I'd assume that time here matches Hollow Bastion as well."

"But wait…" Jila stopped Leon and looked around at Quistis, Aldo, Semih, and Ayame. "Dad mentioned you four…Cid, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith…but you four are new…"

"When the Hollow Bastion was first taken over by Heartless, the four of us escaped in a different ship," Quistis explained. "We were taken to a different place and returned shortly after Sora liberated the Bastion. The others here," she nodded her head to Leon and the others, "were waiting for us when we came home."

"I see," Rion nodded, sitting back down in his chair. "So…I'm sorry to interrupt all this explanation with a simple question but, what are we going to do now?"

"Nothing," Leon shrugged. "Sit and wait here. Cid's going to fix your ship and soon, you'll be able to travel to the other worlds searching for Sora."

"If we find our Dad…" said Jila, "will he be able to wake Cloud up?"

"We're not sure…" Leon shook his head. "But…Sora has the strongest heart of anyone I know. If there's a way to save Cloud…Sora will find it."

The three children looked at each other and gave a small smile, as if proud of how their father was being talked of. These people, all of them, placed great faith in their father, and now placed great faith in them to find him.

"So, you guys rest up!" Cid pushed Haru down into his chair and gave a small laugh. "While I go salvage your ship! Don't worry, it's not too busted up. Once I synthesize a few new parts, it'll up and running in no time."

"Thanks again, Cid," Jila smiled widely and he nodded to her as he walked out the door.

"Yes, you had all better rest," Quistis nodded. "There's a bed and a few sofas in another one of the rooms of this hotel, if you'd like."

"Thanks," Haru nodded, stretching and giving a yawn. "I might take you up on that offer. I'm beat!"

"So am I!" Jila nodded. "I call the bed!"

"No way! _I_ call the bed!"

"Too slow Haru!"

"Hey! Show some respect for your older brother!"

"Coming, Rion?" Jila asked as she walked out the door after Cid, Leon and the others. Quistis, Ayame, Semih, and Aldo all walked out the red door as well, and only the three children were left in the room. Rion, however, did not follow his siblings. He was sitting in his chair, his brow furrowed, obviously in deep thought.

"Huh?" he turned around, then nodded. "Oh…sorry, coming."

Jila and Haru ran out into the hall, Rion following them. He looked past his two siblings' heads and saw none other then Aldo walking at the back of the group of people. He nodded to himself, then turned to his siblings. "You guys get some rest. I'll be back later."

With that, he ran past his siblings and up to the group of adults, leaving Jila and Haru alone in front of the Green Room. "What do you think that was about?"

"Aldo?" Rion asked, catching up with Aldo. Aldo turned around to face Rion.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

* * *

"Where do you think Dad and Mom are?" Jila asked Haru as she walked over to the bed in the room and flopped down on it. Haru sat down on one of the chairs and shrugged.

"I have no idea, really…anywhere, I guess."

"Maybe they're at Hollow Bastion," Jila suggested. "That's where lots of Heartless are now."

"Maybe," Haru shrugged. "We'll just have to see all the worlds until we find Mom and Dad…and the King's Heart."

"And Aece!" Jila told Haru and Haru looked up to face his younger sister.

"Aece?"

"Cloud and Aerith's daughter," Jila explained.

"I know who she is," Haru sighed. "But why do we have to find her too?"

"Cause she's missing," Jila smiled. "It would help if we found her."

"You _want_ to add to our chore list," sighed Haru, rolling his eyes lightly. "We don't know anything about this girl…they haven't asked us to help…is it really any of our business?"

"It doesn't have to be your business to help people," Jila explained and Haru's eyes widened lightly, then he gave a small smile.

"You're right. We'll look for Aece too."

"But the King was wrong," Jila furrowed her brow and sat up on the bed. "Dad wasn't here…at least as far as we know."

"I think the others," Haru nodded his head outside the door to suggest Leon, Yuffie and the others, "would have seen him by now."

"So he really didn't end up here…" Jila furrowed her brow. "And you said we'll have to scour all the worlds to find them."

"Yep."

"What if there are like…a bajillion?" Jila asked. "What if we never find Dad and Mom? And what's with this whole 'Keyblade Prophecy' stuff?"

"You think I have any more clue then you do?" Haru asked, pointing to himself.

"Well, you _are_ my older brother!" Jila frowned. "You should be more reliable, like Rion!"

"Hey, hey, hey, the whole "dependable older brother type" isn't really my thing," Haru defended. "Leave that to Rion."

"Hey…" Jila furrowed her brown, then turned to her older brother. "Speaking of Rion, where do you think he went?"

* * *

"Magic, huh? Kid, this ain't going to be easy."

"I understand."

Rion and Aldo were standing in the third district plaza of Traverse Town, staring at each other, their eyes not wavering from one another's gaze. Aldo stood in front of Rion, looking down at the boy, even if he was only slightly taller then Rion. "Why do you want to learn magic?"

"I need it to protect Jila and Haru…" Rion explained, narrowing his eyes and grasping his fists. "In our fight, you had the asset of magic, which made the battle completely one-sided." Rion knit his eyebrows together and nodded to Aldo. "I can't let that happen again. I know I have magic potential, but I need to learn how to control it. So…I beg you," Rion lowered his body in a low bow to Aldo, "please teach me."

Aldo looked at Rion, then gave a small chuckle. "Heh! You're all uptight! Loosen up!" Rion looked up, his eyes wide. "How old are you?"

"Umm…fifteen. Almost sixteen."

"You're still a teenager! Start acting like one!" Aldo commanded, giving a small smirk. "But I understand your situation, and I agree with you." Aldo suddenly grew rather grave. "You and your siblings will be like lambs to the slaughter against the Heartless unless you can find a way to use magic."

"Can you teach me?" Rion asked, but Aldo didn't answer. He was slowly walking to Rion. Aldo stopped right in front of Rion, paused, then grabbed Rion's hand and placed something in it. Rion's eyes widened as he felt a small sensation pulse through his body, and his glance immediately moved to his open palm. "There's…nothing there…"

"I just gave you a bit of my own energy. That'll help you focus your magic potential," Aldo told him. "You need energy from others in order to learn new skills and magic. It's simply essential. I just gave you the energy needed for the spell 'Fire'."

"Fire?" Rion asked. "But that's a weaker spell then my others."

"Kid, you may be able to spit out that high level magic when things go bad, but there's no way you could normally focus a spell that powerful without considerable practice," Aldo explained. "I say we start small, then work our way up."

"So…what do I do?" Rion asked.

"I demand a rematch."

"Huh?"

Aldo had just threw his cape over his shoulder and had pulled out his dagger. "We're going to fight again. Try to use that spell I just taught you."

"But you never actually _taught_ me how to use it!"

"No one can just "teach" magic," Aldo chuckled. "The user has to utilize it himself. Try it!"

"All right…" Rion nodded, and drew his blue-handled Keyblade. "I'll try…"

"Don't try," Aldo said. "Do it. Oh, and _if _you win…"

"If I win?"

"_If_ you win, I'll teach you another one. Cool?"

"All right!" Rion nodded, then struck a battle stance. "I'm ready!"

"Good," Aldo smiled. "But, I should warn you…"

"Warn me of what?" Rion asked, then widened his eyes as he saw a blue energy gathering Aldo's hand.

"I won't be holding back! BLIZZARA!" He thrust his hand forward, and ice spikes flew at Rion. Rion gasped and fell to the ground, dodging the spikes just in time and rolling out of the way.

"Time to fight fire with fire!" Rion rose to his feet and held out his hand. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them and screamed, "FIRE!"

Silence.

"Just screaming it won't help!" Aldo shouted, and the next thing Rion knew, Aldo had thrown him against the wall using a blizzard spell. "Magic comes from the mind and the heart! You've got to utilize it!"

"R-right…" Rion grimaced, getting up and rubbing his bruised chest. He closed his eyes and thought hard. _'Fire…fire…I need fire…I really, really need fire…' _He looked up and held out his hand. "FIRE!"

A red, fiery spark swirled from Rion's palm around his fingers, then fizzled back into his palm. He stared at his hand and narrowed her eyes. "Damn…I didn't think hard enough."

"THUNDARA!"

"ARRGH!" Rion fell to the ground as he felt the electrical pulsing flow through him, making him grimace in pain and collapse onto the ground. His knees felt like jelly, and they too gave out, making him crumple to a heap on the ground. "Damn…"

"Get up Rion!" Aldo commanded, standing over Rion. Rion didn't stir and Aldo gave a dark frown. He then lifted his right leg and gave Rion a sharp kick in the stomach, knocking the wind out of Rion and making him roll on his back. "Get up! Or are you just going to stay on the ground while your siblings fight?"

Rion narrowed his eyes as he coughed for air; then, slowly, he closed his eyes.

'_Fire…'_

"_Dad!" a nine year old Rion sat next to his father, Sora, in front of a campfire on Destiny Islands, smoking a bit a food over a campfire. "It's really hot!"_

"_Don't get too close, Rion," Sora warned him, pushing Rion back from the fire. _

"_But now my dinner won't cook fast enough!" Rion complained, frowning._

"_You need to learn how to get the most heat out of the fire without burning yourself," Sora explained. "And that doesn't always mean getting as close as you can." Sora took a bit of meat from a plate next to him, took out a long wooden pole, and then took out a string from his bag. He tied the string onto the wooden pole, then tied the meat onto the string. He stepped on the log that he and his son were standing on and dangled the meat just over the fire. _

_Rion's eyes widened as he watched his father pull out the meat, fully cooked, a few minutes later. "Woah!"_

"_See? Sometimes, you've got to step back from the fire to get the most of its power," Sora showed off his trademark grin, then helped his son onto the log. "Now you try…"_

'_Watch me Dad…'_

"You getting up or WHAT?" Aldo screamed to Rion.

"Fi…"

"What?" Aldo asked, quirking an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

"Fir…"

"You okay, Rion?" Aldo asked, stepping forward.

"FIRE!" The next thing Aldo knew, Rion had jumped to his feet, twirled his keyblade in his hand, pointed it straight at Aldo, and had bellowed the spell. Fire came streaming out of the Keyblade, knocking Aldo to the ground and singing his clothes, leaving a distinct burn mark where the spell had hit.

Rion breathed heavily, sweat trickling from his brow. "S-Sometimes…putting yourself in the middle of the fire doesn't give you the power to unleash it. Sometimes…you've got to step back and revere the power of the fire to use it."

Aldo started laughing as he rose to his feet, caressing his slightly burnt skin. "You got me good back there Rion. Congrats, you're officially a magic user. Or…a wizard."

Rion gave a smile of satisfaction. A wizard. Something like that only existed in fantasies, right? Maybe not. Now, he was officially a wizard, and he could use his newfound power to protect Jila and Haru.

"Now…about the second spell I promised you…"

"Hmm?"

* * *

"That's it!" Jila frowned, throwing her hands on the table in the Green Room, making a loud noise and alerting Haru's attention. "Rion's been gone for over two hours! I'm going to go look for him!"

"He's fine!" Haru assured her, but Jila was already moving towards the door. "Fine…go look for him if you want. I'll be staying here."

"Be back in a bit!" Jila called, opening the door and shutting it behind her. She stared down the hallway, noticed another room next to hers, then the red room. She assumed that the others hadn't returned yet. "Hmm…there's lots of artwork in here…"

She walked slowly through the hall, admiring the flowers and paintings, then finally coming to a door. She gave a wide smile. "This must be the exit. I wonder which part of the town we're in right now…I hope I don't get lost…"

She opened the doors and looked outside. She noticed a large fountain below her and a few shops across the way. When she looked up, she saw that she had actually been in a hotel. "Hmm…weird…" She noticed a large clock tower to the north of the town, and narrowed her brow at it. "What a weird clock."

It was near midnight, she realized, staring at the clock. She and the others must have arrived at night in this world.

"I wonder where Rion got to…" she frowned looking around. "I guess I'll just keep searching."

She leapt from the stairs of the hotel and started jogging across the platform she was on. "I'll go downstairs first. See if he's anywhere around there."

She jumped on the banister connected to the stairs and slid down quickly, her light brown hair flowing out behind her. She landed wobbly, almost tripping over her own feet, but managed to stay upright; but, when she looked up, she saw something she had not seen in her reconnaissance of the town just a few minutes ago.

It was a young woman, standing in front of the fountain, admiring the craftsmanship of the tile.

"Excuse me?" Jila asked, her eyebrows rising. The woman turned around, and Jila realized that she was much younger then she originally thought. She was probably a little older then Rion, maybe sixteen or seventeen. Eighteen, perhaps.

"What?" The woman asked, her voice low and cold, which was surprising, since her mouth was covered. Jila stepped back a little. This woman was just slightly intimidating. A pair of steel blue eyes peered at her from just above a dark scarf. A shock of blonde hair contrasted sharply with her baggy navy pants, gloves, and shirt, floating all the way down to the back of her knees as though she hadn't had a haircut in years. The only thing that seemed to fit her were her black combat boots and a steel gauntlet. The woman crossed her arms displaying a red bow on her wrist. It seemed strangely out of place on the dark young woman. "What do you want?

"Wh-when did you get here?" Jila asked, puzzled. "You weren't here just a second ago."

The young woman didn't answer.

"Who are you?" Jila asked, after a beat. "My name is Jila by the way."

Once again, Jila did not receive a response.

"Do you live here?"

"You said your name was Jila?" the young woman asked and Jila nodded.

"Uhh, that's me!" she gave a rigorous nod, blushing lightly.

"Well, Jila…I'm afraid I'm busy, no time for chat," the woman said, walking past Jila. Jila looked behind her and smiled widely.

"Cool!" The next thing the mysterious young woman knew, Jila had stopped her by the back. Jila had grasped the gigantic sword on the girls' back.

It looked much like a large knife with a thick blade and bandages wrapped around it. Jila was amazed that the girl could even keep it on her back. "This is so cool! A gigantic sword like this!"

"Please let go of my Buster sword."

"So that's what you call this thing? A Buster sword?"

"It's…it's actually a Miniature Buster sword. Slightly smaller then an original."

"Woah! If this thing is miniature, I'd hate to see the big one!" Jila laughed, showing her teeth. "You carry it on your back like it's no big deal!"

"It isn't…" the girl stepped forward, and Jila was forced to let go of the sword. "I'm getting the impression you've never seen a weapon before."

"Hey!" Jila frowned, obviously offended. "I'm a warrior myself!"

"Yeah right," the woman scoffed, turning around to face Jila. "What, do you and your little friends play battle games?"

"Want to see _my_ sword?" Jila asked.

"I don't see it…"

"It's right here!"

In a flash of light, Jila had pulled out her yellow-handled Keyblade and held it out for the woman to see. When the light cleared, the woman's eyes were slightly wider than before and Jila was smirking. "See? I told you I'm a warrior!"

"What luck…"

In a moment, the woman had drawn her buster sword and swung it down at Jila. Jila gave a gasp and raised her keyblade in defense, blocking the attack just in time. "Wh-what the? What the heck?"

"Hand over the Keyblade," the woman snarled. "Or I'll kill you."

"N-no way!" Jila snapped as the woman jumped out of the sword struggle the two were having and struck a fighting pose. "I need this sword! You can't have it!"

"I told you. Give me the Keyblade or die. Those are your two options."

The woman swung her Buster down at Jila, and Jila somersaulted away from the attack and the Buster sword hit hard stone, making a small crack in the street. "Oh my gosh! That sword is huge!" Jila breathed heavily, wiping a trickle of sweat from her brow. "One hit with that, and I'm dead meat."

"You can't beat me. Just hand over the Keyblade and I'll let you live," the woman narrowed her eyebrows and moved over to Jila. "It's your choice."

"Some choice!" Jila snapped, breathing heavily. She snapped her body back into position, then ran at the woman, her Keyblade raised above her head. "HYAH!"

"Way. Too. Slow."

The next thing Jila knew, the woman was behind her, about to throw her Buster sword onto Jila. Jila felt the wind breeze down as the sword started to fall. Jila gasped, then jumped to a nearby bench just as the sword hit the ground once more.

"You're quick at escaping," the woman muttered. "But believe this…the Keyblade shall be mine. I need that Keyblade. I…" she grasped the handle of her sword tightly. "I am the true wielder of the Keyblade!"

"True wielder my butt! Eat this, lady!"

The woman fell to the ground as none other then Haru jumped from the edge of the hotel veranda onto the woman's back, knocking her to the ground.

"Haru!" Jila shouted to her older brother, who had already drawn his blade as well. "You came!"

"Duh! You were taking way too long! Who's this chick you're fighting?"

"You think I know?" Jila asked, her eyes wide. "She just started attacking me and demanding that I give her my Keyblade!"

"Another Keyblade?" The woman asked, rising to her feet and rubbing her bruised head. "T-two blades? What in the world?"

"Haru, together we can take her! Attack from both sides!" Jila rasped to her brother. Haru nodded.

"HYAH!" Haru ran forward, blade ready to strike. Jila took advantage of Haru's distraction to sprint around the woman, stop abruptly, then turn once more, her Keyblade ready for a back attack.

"FATED CIRCLE!"

Both Haru and Jila fell back as the woman rose into the air and threw her sword around her, making a shockwave of energy that circled around her and knocked the two siblings to the ground. "ARRGH!" Jila screamed as she hit the edge of the fountain. Haru skidded to a halt on the street, his lip bleeding.

"I picked that move up from a friend of mine…" The woman said coldly, then walked over to Haru and held out her hand. "Give me the Keyblade."

"Never!" Haru grunted, rising to his feet. The woman raised an eyebrow, then raised her fist and struck Haru to the ground.

"Haru!" Jila screamed, then rose to her feet to help her brother up.

"He wouldn't have gotten hurt if he had just done as I had asked," the young woman said, her voice as cool as ice. "Both of you…hand over your keyblades."

"What do you want our Keyblades for?" Haru coughed. "You didn't even know us before tonight!"

"I told you…" said the young woman, her patience obviously wearing thin. She held out her hand, as if to demand the blades. "_I_ am the true wielder of the Keyblade. You two are just amateurs."

"What are you going to do with two?" Jila frowned. "Seems dumb to me!"

"I'll put one in each hand," she shrugged, then took a menacing step forward. "Now. Hand. Them. Over."

"I hope you can hold one in your mouth too, lady! FIRE!"

Jila and Haru looked up to see none other then Rion rushing from behind a wall near the clock tower, his blue-handled Keyblade in his hand, fire flying towards the woman. She was caught off guard and fell back as the spell hit her.

"Rion!" Jila called to her older brother as he ran up to them, panting slightly. "You're back!"

"Yeah!" he nodded. "After I got a bit of training from Aldo, he left through the third district, and I came back this way to meet up with you guys! Good thing I did!"

"What did you just do?" Haru asked his elder brother, referring to the fire that Rion had just unleashed.

"That's my magic," he told them proudly. "I can control it now. Aldo taught me how."

"Amazing!" Jila gaped in awe. "Magic?"

"So…three Keyblades…" A cold voice interrupted the children's conversation as they saw the young woman rise to her feet and stare at Rion. "And one belongs to a wizard."

"Yeah!" Rion nodded. "You can't beat all three of us! Forget about stealing our swords."

The woman looked at all three of them, from one to another, then sighed. "I have no time for this at the moment… I have no need to expend my energy to defeat you now when I could just have my Heartless do it for me."

The children froze, their eyes wide. "H-Heartless?" Jila asked. "You have those?"

The woman didn't respond. The three children looked at her, worry and fear in their eyes, and she looked at them, her icy glare not portraying any sort of emotion. It was like this young woman was an untouchable enigma that was not human; but something much more deep and untouchable. But, finally, the woman made a movement. She simply raised her right hand and snapped her fingers briskly, making a sharp crack, shattering the fresh night air.

Before the children could gather what was going on, millions of tiny, flying creatures surrounded them from small voids of darkness. They had black faces, tiny straw colored hats, and blue, red, yellow, or green colored torsos with the Heartless symbol residing menacingly in the center.

"These are my wizards…" the woman told the children. "Maleficent gave them to me."

"Maleficent?" Jila whispered to her two brothers. "Wait…Dad mentioned her…she's…"

"Maleficent is supposed to be dead!" Haru shouted, rising from his position on the ground, not afraid of the now twirling wizards. "Our fa… Sora defeated her!"

"Tch," the woman sighed, pulling up her scarf around her face. "Maleficent is alive and well, believe me. You have no idea who or what you're talking about."

"Take that back!" Haru started, only to have Rion put a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Why are you working with the Heartless?" Rion asked, narrowing his eyes. "And why are you the true Keyblade wielder?"

"I see no reason to answer you," the woman snarled, then pulled out her buster sword and pointed it at the three in a swift motion. "Attack, wizards!"

Immediately, the wizards flew in towards the children, launching fire, blizzard, and thunder spells at them! "What the heck?" Jila screamed, dodging a fire spell just in time, then ducking to avoid a spike of ice coming towards her. "What's going on?"

"These things control the elements!" Rion explained, sidestepping a thunder bolt directed at him, then pulling Haru towards him as to save him from a fire spell. "Haru!"

"Uh-yeah?"

"You handle the yellow ones, got that?" Rion asked him, and Haru nodded, pulling his Keyblade and launching towards one yellow colored wizard. "Jila!"

"Yeah Rion?"

"You get the green ones!" He commanded and Jila nodded, swiping at a green wizard near her, making it vanish into a poof of darkness and a crystal heart.

"What about you, Rion?" Jila asked.

"I'll handle the others," Rion turned towards the blue and red wizards, who were now firing spells at Rion, somehow knowing that he would be their opponent. Rion dodged the magic, then ran up to the wizards, giving one a sharp whack, then firing his Keyblade at a blue wizard. "FIRE!"

As the fire erupted from the end of the Keyblade, the blue wizard convulsed and exploded into a puff of black smoke, just like the others that Haru and Jila were currently destroying. "FIRE!" He launched another spell almost instantly, pointing at another blue creature, making it cripple to the spell.

"Rion's really cleaning up!" Haru shouted to his younger sister as he gave another yellow creature a hard whack. A final blow from his blade finished it off just as his sister turned around from her last creature and nodded. "That magic of his is really powerful!"

"I know!" Jila laughed, then turned to look at her oldest brother. "He's absolutely amazing with that magic!"

"It's funny…" Haru stated, "that in the battle against Darkside, at the very end, he unleashed powerful magic. Maybe…maybe Rion, in a way, was always destined to be a powerful wizard."

"Maybe you're right," Jila smiled warmly.

"FIRE!" Rion attacked the last blue creature with his spell, and it fell to the ground defeated. Now, only the red remained, the woman standing behind them, looking at the three with narrowed eyes.

"Impressive…" she murmured. "But, as far as I can see, your only spell is fire."

Rion didn't respond, but his siblings could have sworn that they saw him grasp his Keyblade slightly tighter.

"The red wizards, or, Red Nocturnes," the woman continued, "cannot be defeated by a fire spell."

"Then we'll just whack 'em to death!" Jila snarled, running forward, only to be knocked back by a huge fireball blowing her over. "ARRGH!"

"Jila!" Haru called. "Where did that come from?"

"I've ordered the Red Nocturnes to combine their attacks," the young woman told them. "Now, the spell is four times as strong. Your magic may have been affective against the Blue Rhapsodies," the woman reasoned, "but it's completely useless against these."

"That's where you're wrong."

The woman looked up and her eyes grew wide as she saw a blue energy growing at the tip of Rion's Keyblade. "A wise hawk keeps his talons hidden!" Rion countered, then pointed his blade at the Red Nocturnes. "BLIZZARD!"

The spell bellowed out, destroying two of the Nocturnes, leaving the other four alone to deal with the latest elemental onslaught. "BLIZZARD!" Two more. "BLIZZARD!" Two more.

The Red Nocturnes and all of the other wizards had been vanquished, and the young woman stood now alone, without her Heartless, and with the three children ready to engage her in battle.

"That was the second spell Aldo taught me," Rion told her. "Seems you underestimated me and my siblings. A costly mistake."

The woman gave a wry smiled, then walked over to Rion. Jila noticed that she and Rion were almost the same height. When did Rion get so tall…?

"You're cute," she smirked, taking Rion's jaw in her hand. "You really think those wimpy wizards were all I had up my sleeve? I'm afraid, Keyblade Wizard, you've underestimated me as well."

"How so?" Rion asked, still looking the woman straight in the eye.

The woman didn't answer him. She just let go of his face, stepped back, and raised her buster sword into the air. "Watch and learn." She stared up at the sword, and the children gasped to see runic circles glowing beneath her feet. They started to grow larger, brighter, as if they would swallow the entire street. Then, they began to spin, faster, and faster, until the circles were just blurs. In one fleeting motion, the woman lowered her buster sword into the ground.

An earth-shattering crash filled the district as the circles seemed to explode in a column of fire surrounding the woman. The children shaded their wide eyes from the heat and intensity of the flames.

But, slowly, the fire lowered, and, standing behind the woman was a gigantic red demon with a black Heartless symbol burnt onto its chest. The demon had black horns, red ears, and searing red eyes. It stood on four legs, with long feet that had sharp claws rooted on the ends of the four fingers that the creature possessed on each foot. On its face was a long snout where steam was pouring out of.

"It's called Ifrit," the woman announced. "One of the mighty Heartless I have at my disposal."

"Another gift from Maleficent?" Haru asked, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Good call," the woman chuckled. "She made sure that the Keyblade would be returned to its rightful owner. Once I obtain your Keyblades, I won't have any need for the Heartless anymore."

Ifrit stepped forward and gave a low growl. The woman smiled and waved. "I'll leave the four of you alone, shall I? I'll be back for the Keyblades."

"Wait!" Jila called, but the woman had already snapped her fingers and disappeared in a cloud of black energy. Only Ifrit and the three children were left.

"What are we going to do?" Haru whispered. "That thing looks tough."

"What else?" Rion asked. "Fight!"

In a moment, all three children had bounded forward towards Ifrit, the blades drawn. "BLIZZARD!" Rion cast, and Ifrit turned on him as the spell damaged the beast.

"Keep using that!" Haru shouted. "It seems to affect it!"

"Right! BLIZZARD!" Rion cast the spell again, and Ifrit fell back.

"HYAH!" Jila gave Ifrit a swipe with her sword, Haru following her lead. Ifrit took one of his clawed hands and swiped all three children to the ground with a swift thrust.

It reared its head and the children had to roll out of the way in order to avoid a stream of flames pouring from its mouth.

"Crud!" Haru shouted, looking at the fire streaming from Ifrit's mouth. "We'd be fried if we got hit by that!"

"Jila, Haru," Rion called to them. "My magic power's running low. I'm running on empty."

"What?" Haru asked, his eyes growing wide. "But how are we supposed to beat this thing without your magic?"

"You guys are treating yourselves like dead weight!" Rion scolded his two younger siblings, and they blushed pink. "What do you think we should do?"

There was a pause as the three looked at each other, then Jila's eyes widened. "RION, WATCH OUT!"

But it was too late, Ifrit had already lowered its massive paw onto Rion, flattening him to the street. "RION!" Haru screamed.

"Darn…didn't see that coming…" Rion grimaced as Ifrit released its paw. Rion coughed up a bit of blood. "Man…guys…I think I'm out of the fight for now."

"Rion!" Jila ran over to her eldest brother and lifted his head. "You're going to be okay, right?"

"N-not sure…" Rion coughed. "I think that attack may have broken one of my ribs…Jila, Haru, you're going to have to beat him."

"B-but we can't…not without you!" Haru insisted.

"Heh…I may be older brother, but you guys aren't babies anymore," he reminded them. "You have your own strengths! You can do it."

Haru looked at his older brother, then looked at his blue handled Keyblade. "Own…strengths…" His eyes widened, and he turned around to see Ifrit bringing its paw once again down on the three.

"Oh no!" Jila screamed. "We can't move Rion!"

"Run!" Rion insisted. "Run, before it gets you too!"

"B-but we can't!" Jila threw herself down over her eldest brother. "Haru! Get down!"

But Haru didn't get down. He didn't even brother to duck. Instead, her raised his red Keyblade and closed his eyes.

"ENERGY SHIELD!"

Ifrit's paw harmlessly bounced off a bright green shield that flew from Haru's wand, protecting the three of them from its attack. It looked confused, as did the two other children.

"H-how'd you do that?"

"I just remembered our dream," Haru told them. "And what Rion said about how we each have our own strengths. He picked up the magic wand; I picked up the shield; and you picked up the sword, Jila. Maybe the items were preferred helped our abilities to mature. I knew this, and, deep inside of me, I knew what to say."

Jila looked at him, then down at her Keyblade. "Rion's got his magic. You just found your shield. Do you think I have a power too?"

"Of course," Haru nodded. "C'mon, we've got to beat this thing, and we'll need everyone's help to do it. Rion and I have given our share, now it's your turn lil' sis."

"Right!" Jila nodded, rising to her feet and striking a defiant pose. "Just watch me!"

"All right then!" Haru nodded, then raised his Keyblade and ran forward towards Ifrit. "Time for battle!"

The two rushed in against the mighty fire demon, Haru managing to land a furry of strikes on its right side, while Jila distracted it by continuingly striking its face. Ifrit gave a swipe at Jila, only to have Jila somersault out of the way.

"ENERGY SHIELD!" Haru screamed, blocking Ifrit's punch from reaching Jila. Jila gave him a nod of thanks.

"BLIZZARD!" The two turned around to see Rion on his knees, throwing out his last magic spell, knocking Ifrit back with the ice spikes he had unleashed.

"Magic…defense…" Jila whispered to herself, trying to concentrate. "I picked the sword. That must mean I'm attack…" She bit her lip. "So why isn't anything coming to me?"

"HYAH!" Haru jumped forward to land a blow on Ifrit's snout, only to have Ifrit rear its head back and throw fire from its mouth at Haru. "Darn! I can't get the shield up in time!"

"HARU!" Jila screamed, stretching out her hand, but it was too late. Haru fell back from the mighty flames, and his body flopped helplessly as it hit the stone cold street. "Haru, oh no!"

"You can do it Jila!" Rion called to her. "Just focus! Think about it! You have to find the power inside your heart!"

Jila turned to face her brother. "Inside…my heart?"

"_Sonic BLADE!" Jila yelled and thrust her sword in front of her…_

"A blade…" Jila whispered, then held her Keyblade in front of her. "Time to use my blade. I'm a swordsman, this is my sword…" she felt the power gathering around her as she felt the words coming to her lips, "and this is my power! FURY STRIKE!"

Jila rushed forward, even faster then usual, and unleashed an unstopping barrage of blows on the mighty demon Ifrit. Her blade would not stop, the blows gracefully moved in and out around each other, striking with even more force then the last. "HYAH!" She made a final spinning attack, and Ifrit fell backwards.

The giant Heartless convulsed, then, out of its chest came a crystalline heart that rose into the sky and then disappeared in the blackness of the night. Ifrit's body slowly dissolved into the blackening ground; and soon, there was no evidence left of it ever being there.

"We won!" Jila laughed, relieved.

"We really did it…" Rion smiled, getting up, using his Keyblade for support. "We drove off that monster."

"Yeah…you really showed him," Haru coughed, standing up despite his injuries.

"We all did!" Jila smiled. "It seems that we're all getting stronger in one way or another!"

"Maybe our journey isn't just to find Mom and Dad," Haru offered. "Maybe, in a way, this is our own adventure! Maybe, one day we'll just like Dad!"

"Heroes…" Jila murmured, then smiled widely. "That's us! Like father, like daughter! _I'm_ obviously the best swordsman of all of us!"

"But _I'm_ the best wizard!" Rion said jokingly, prodding her in the arm.

"Hey, hey, hey! You _both_ would have been mincemeat if it weren't for my shield!"

"Guys!"

The three children looked up to see none other then Yuffie looking over them, waving energetically. "Guys, Cid fixed your ship! Finally! Hey…you look kind of beat up, what happened?"

"Oh nothing," Jila smiled. "Just ran into a bit of a problem."

"What kind of a problem?" Yuffie asked. "Heartless? We told you not to leave the hotel."

"We'll explain later," Haru assured her, walking up the stairs. "For now, let's get back in our ship and head out onto more adventures, right guys?"

"Right!" Jila nodded, grinning wildly. "Hey, you know that cheer that Dad used to do with Donald and Goofy?"

"Hmm…what's that?" Rion asked, smiling.

"I remember!" Haru nodded. "'All for one, and one for all!'"

"Well!" Jila grinned broadly and stuck out her hand. "All for one!"

"All for one!" Haru nodded, sticking out his hand as well.

"All for one," Rion nodded, joining the two others' hands in the circle.

"All for one, and one for all!" the three cheered together, raising their hands into the air, and then their Keyblades.

"Let's get going!" Jila laughed and raced her brothers up the stairs. "We've got adventures to meet!"

* * *

The End of Chapter 5! The longest chapter yet! Hooth!

I hope you all enjoyed it! I did!

Omake: Character Profile

Name: Jila  
Age: 13  
Hair: Brown  
Eyes: Blue

Jila is the only girl in the trio, and the youngest to boot. She's daddy's little girl, that's for sure and certain. In fact, when I first designed her, I made sure to make her most like Sora, in order to prove that Sora's strong heart and warm personality can be carried over to any gender. Not that Jila's brothers don't have strong hearts either.

At first, I must admit, two years ago when this idea was born, Jila was a complete author self-insertion. I made her look like me, act like me, be exactly as tall as me, and a bunch of other crud. Jila was also supposed to turn out to be the main character, when, in reality, I've edited the story to make it much more about all three children then just her. (Including more about Sora, Kairi, and Riku)

As for her name? To tell you the truth, I went through tons of names before I finally decided to use Jila. Jila, one of my aliases, was born from this fic. Jila seems like the perfect lively name to use for someone like Jila.

Anyway, enough rambling! Save your game, turn off your PS2, and save the next level for another update!

Level Six: Wonderland

See you then!

(P.S. Word count? Over 9,000)


	6. Level Six: Wonderland

Hey there everyone! This is Sammy with Level 6 of "The Keyblade Master Chronicles"! I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far! I really like it as well, especially now that it's been edited and spruced up.

In truth, the plot's pretty extensive, and sometimes I have trouble keeping everything together. But that's okay, because I know that a good pacing session will help out. (smiles)

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to all the readers! Merry Christmas!

* * *

**Level 6 – Wonderland

* * *

**

"Don't forget to write," joked Yuffie as the three children walked to their ship, newly fashioned by Cid. The old red Gummi Ship was now as good as new, with even an engine adjustment put it.

"That should be able to get you to any world you want," Cid told them, smiling. "You all need something, just come on back, you got that?"

"Right!" Haru nodded. He turned to Aerith, who was smiling at them. "Don't worry, Aerith. We'll help Cloud out, and find Aece!"

Aerith seemed taken aback, but she simply smiled and nodded. "Yes…thank you. Thank you very much."

"Sorry we couldn't say goodbye to Cloud," Jila smiled. "But we'll see him later, right?"

"Be careful," Leon warned them. The three looked up and nodded. "The Heartless will be after you constantly. Wherever you go searching for Sora, they'll be sure to follow."

"Right, Leon," Rion nodded. "We'll watch our backs." Rion then turned to Aldo and Aldo held up his hand.

"Don't even think about thanking me, kid," Aldo grinned. "You're not bad. Keep up your training. The rest of your magic should come naturally."

"Right!" Rion nodded to his former mentor, then turned to the rest of the gang. "We'll be back once we've found Dad. He should be able to put a stop to this."

"If there's anyone who can help us…" Leon murmured. "It's Sora. He's got to be out there…somewhere."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hotel, Cloud slept serenely as usual, her huge buster sword tucked under his bed, Aerith's stool faithfully watching over him.

The door creaked open, and the lights shut off without anyone flicking them off. Cloud, of course, did not react, but the person who had entered the room seemed to have been suspecting this.

He or she took a small step into the room, then another, and another until he or she was situated next Cloud's bed. He or she harshly kicked aside the stool that Aerith usually sat at and moved closer to Cloud.

"Hmm…" the voice murmured. It was the same voice that had attacked the King at Disney Castle. "Out cold are we? I don't blame you. That Heartless attack I sent was meant to steal your heart right then and there. I guess they overdid it.

"But…that attack did prove beneficial to me," the voice laughed. "After all, I did get your daughter out of the deal, didn't I? Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment."

The figure rose the same long and straight thing that he or she had used on the King, positioned it over Cloud's helpless body, and plunged straight down.

For the first time in over twelve years, Cloud let out a deafening scream and his eyes flew open, revealing blue orbs that were shocked with white from the pain. "ARRRGHHH!" he screamed, grasping his chest.

"No need to make a big fuss!" the voice cackled. "The King was much quieter about it all!" He or she plunged again and Cloud screamed once more.

"Who the hell are you?" he screamed loudly over the pounding in his ears. "ARRGHH!"

The figure pulled the long appendage out of Cloud, and he was silent. Now in the assailant's hand was a tiny keychain that had a miniature Hollow Bastion attached to the end. He or she grinned evilly, their white teeth showing even through the darkness of the room. The figure plucked the Keychain off the end and clipped it next to the Disney Castle keychain that had come from the King.

He or she turned on his or her heel and walked slowly out of the room. The minute their foot left the room, the lights came back on.

Cloud's eyes were fully open, and he was pale and cold. He resembled the King exactly…

* * *

"And off we go!" shouted Jila as Rion powered the Gummi Ship up for their take-off. Waving to the group of misfits behind them, the three children blasted off in their newly repaired ship.

They were in space in moments, ready to head onto the next world where they would continue to search for their father. "Set a course Rion!" Haru instructed his older brother, shaking his shoulder.

"Fine, fine," Rion sighed, looking at the destination panel. "Hmm…there's a world coming up pretty close. Can't get a good picture on the screen yet."

"Well, Dad and Mom could be anywhere!" Jila reminded them, pumping her fist. "So we might as well go everywhere!"

"Jila's got a point," Haru smiled warmly at his younger sister. "And anyway, you don't see any other worlds coming up."

"For once, you guys are making sense," Rion joked, earning glares from Haru and Jila. Rion selected to set a course to the world and the three children were cruising along in the Gummi Ship.

"How long should it take us to get there?" Jila asked, obviously curious. She poked her head in between the two front seats to get a better look at the control panel.

Haru, too, looked at the control panel and smiled as he saw the time. "Woah! Only a half an hour! This world must be really close!"

"Don't let your guard down," Rion warned them. "It could be dangerous. Remember when we got attacked by that girl after our Keyblades? It's no doubt that she's still trying to find us."

"I wonder what her name was…" Jila murmured, sitting back down in her seat.

"How about Miss Crazy Woman?" Haru suggested, making a funny face that made Jila laugh. He then did a comical impression of the woman's harsh face, which made Jila laugh even more. "Or Lady Crazilots?"

"Hey you two!" Rion said, alarmed. "Stop fooling around. We've got more Heartless ships after us."

"Oh please!" Haru scoffed, quickly pulling out the shot launcher. "After our first battle, this should be a piece of cake!"

"Right!" Jila nodded, pulling out the shield panel from the back seat. "I'm ready when you guys are!"

"Okay, keep them in your sights and fire when you see fit!" Rion instructed his siblings. "We've got quite a fleet to go through!"

"Leave it to us Rion!" Haru assured his elder brother. "We're not letting a single shot get through!"

* * *

"NOT A SINGLE SHOT, HUH?"

The children had little trouble with the first wave of Heartless ships; it had been the second wave that had given them trouble. The shields were running low on power, as usual, and Haru's crazy cocky shooting wasn't helping matters either.

Just as the children had caught sight of a mass that looked like a world in front of them, they had been shot in the tail, and were currently diving towards the world.

"There's been no permanent damage done!" Jila assured her brothers, checking out the shields. "The engines are just in need of recuperating!"

"Yeah, that's great!" Rion snapped, turning around to his little sister. "And meanwhile we're in a tailspin towards the world!"

"Okay, as I see it, the only option we have is to hope we crash somewhere safe!" Haru shouted over the sound of the flying ship.

"Usually, you don't _pick_ where you crash!" Rion screamed.

"Then pull into a landing!" Haru instructed his brother.

"Woah!" Jila gasped in amazement and wonder, and then pointed in front of her. "Look at that world!"

The two boys looked to where their younger sister was pointing to see a perfectly pink world with an odd checked pattern and strange trees everywhere. There seemed to be a castle there as well, but covered in red symbols that they couldn't make out…

"Okay, I'm going to pull in for a landing!" Rion informed his two siblings. "When I say the word, jump!"

"Are you serious?" Haru asked, his eyes wide.

"It's the only option!"

"Fine!" Jila sighed, standing up and grabbing hold of the Gummi ship door handle. Haru and she were on the same side, and would jump out the large door when it opened. "The trees will break our fall, anyway!"

"What about you Rion?" Haru shouted, his voice growing louder as the Gummi ship roared. They were extremely close to hitting the ground now, and the trees could be seen. They were going to crash in a forest!

"I'm staying in the ship!" Rion told them and they looked at him with wide eyes. "What? Someone has to repair it if it's busted!"

"You don't know how!" Haru told him.

"I'll learn then!" Rion grinned. "Now JUMP!"

Jila and Haru reluctantly threw open the door and jumped legs first out of the Gummi Ship while Rion continued to spin off into the strange forest.

* * *

"Owwiee…my head…" Jila murmured as she sat up, rubbing her bruised head. She had landed smack dab in the middle of a dense forest. She had missed the hollow log next to her by inches, and Jila muttered a small word of thanks for her luck. However… "Haru?" Jila looked around for her brother, but he was not to be seen. "Haru? You there?"

She stood up and looked around, but still saw no one. It was obvious that she was quite alone. "Haru!" She started to run, but stopped. "Where could he have gotten to? I've got to go find him." Jila sat down on the hollow log, looking around at her surroundings. "I wonder where I am."

"Hello!"

"EEEEEKS!" Jila squealed as she felt her legs being caught by two short arms. She was lifted onto a pair of shoulders, and was about to fall over when her back hit something rather squishy. "Wh-what the?"

Jila gave a rather hard bounce as the shoulders she were on stopped and was bumped into.

"Donk!"

Again, she was pushed back and the squishy thing she was riding on was bumped as well.

"Dink!"

The pattern continued, this time the front pair of shoulders getting bumped.

"Honk!"

Once more, the squishy thing was bumped, and another loud sound emitted from it.

"Hink!"

Jila looked down to see that she was being carried on the shoulders of a very short man with a large belly wearing red suspenders, a beanie with a propeller, and a white collar. The squishy thing holding her up was the head of a man who looked almost exactly the same.

"Let go of me!" Jila shouted, whacking the man carrying her on his shoulders on the head. All he did was emit a loud "Donk!" and kept walking. "Hey! P-put me down you weird dolls!"

"If you think we're fake--" The one carrying her on his shoulders began.

"You've got another thing coming!" finished the one with the squishy head carrying her back.

The two men abruptly dropped Jila on her back, which hurt quite a bit, and lined up next to each other, bumping into each other and making their trademark loud noises once more.

"Wh-Who are you?" Jila asked, her eyes wide. She stood up, massaging her back and stared at what seemed to be embroidery on the collars of the two odd men. "Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum?"

"So glad you could come!" Tweedle Dee honked from his small mouth.

"So great to see someone pass through!" Tweedle Dum added.

"I was going to say that!" Tweedle Dee remarked, hitting his twin on the head, making him emit another "Dink!"

"No you weren't! I was going to say what you already said!" Tweedle Dum replied, returning the favor by bopping Tweedle Dee on the head, making Tweedle Dee explode in a loud "Donk!"

"Y-You don't have to fight!" Jila told them, trying to break up the two.

"But of course we do!" Tweedle Dee said.

"If we didn't, what would there be to do?" Tweedle Dum asked.

"W-well you could…uhh…build a tree house?" Jila suggested, only gaining the idea from all the trees surrounding her. "Anyway, I'd love to stay, but I'm in a hurry."

"A hurry?"

"A hurry?"

"A HURRY?" the two finished, their eyes wide and right in Jila's face. Jila slunked back, taken aback by their reaction.

"No, no, you must stay!" Tweedle Dee demanded.

"We could do tricks!"

"Or sing songs!"

"If you stay we might just battle!" Tweedle Dum suggested, and the two grabbed each other's collars.

"I-I don't want you to fight!" Jila told them. "And I really have to go!"

"Why?"

"T-To find my brother!" Jila told them. "Both my brothers."

"Why?"

"Because they're lost!"

"Why?"

"I don't know!" Jila growled, not wanting to answer anymore of the twin's crazy questions. "I'm curious to find where they are!"

"Ooohhh…" Tweedle Dee shook his head, taking off his hat. Tweedle Dum followed suit. "She's curious…"

Tweedle Dum sighed, "Remember the oysters? They were curious too." The two started to walk away, and Jila turned her head towards them.

"What oysters?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you wouldn't want to hear!" Tweedle Dee put his hand right in Jila's face.

"You're in much too much of a hurry!" Tweedle Dum reminded her, using cruel irony.

"I-I could stay a bit!" Jila smiled. "Tell me what happened to the oysters!"

"Oh you don't want to hear _that_ ridiculous story!" Jila turned her head and gave a small gasp to see a small girl with blonde hair and a blue dress coming towards her. She had large blue eyes and looked younger then Jila. She was smiling. "It might be entertaining, but you're busy, aren't you?"

"Uhh…yes!" Jila nodded. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure," the girl frowned. "I've been here so long I've quite forgotten myself. But my name is Alice. I'm so glad to find someone else here who has a bit of sense."

"My name's Jila," Jila smiled to Alice. The Tweedles were looking quite put-out that their story had been interrupted. "Alice, where exactly are we?"

"Well, we're in Wonderland of course!" Alice smiled. "A world where nothing makes sense!"

Jila remembered the world that never made sense. Her father had mentioned it during his stories, but he had never mentioned any of the lands he had visited by name. "Except you and me," Jila smiled, laughing slightly. "Anyway, why are you here?"

"Well, you see," Alice frowned. "A few months ago, I chased a rabbit down a rabbit hole and almost lost my head! But well, Sora saved me--"

Jila's eyes widened and she grabbed Alice's sleeve. "Did you say 'Sora'? Is Sora here?"

"Well, if you'd let me finish the story," Alice frowned, shaking free of Jila's grip. "You see, Sora saved me, but I was then kidnapped. But, well, Sora saved me again," Jila nodded, already knowing the details of the Princesses of Heart. Alice must have been one of them, "and just as you'd have it, I returned home only to run after the White Rabbit again!" Alice giggled slightly. "I was just so curious as to where he might be going _this_ time that I came after him!"

"That seems really reckless," Jila frowned, a little uncomfortable about giving advice to someone who was probably only a few years her junior. "You should be more careful."

"That's what I told myself!" Alice sighed. "I give myself such good advice, but I seldom follow it."

"So you're after the white rabbit?" Jila asked. "Well, I'm looking for my brothers, so maybe we should search together!"

"Oh that sounds splendid!" said Alice, clapping her hands together. "It'll be so much jollier to go along with someone else!"

"All right," Jila smiled. "Let's go!"

"But wait!" Tweedle Dee said, scampering up to the two girls.

"You must listen to the end of our story!" Tweedle Dum agreed, blocking the path of the two girls once again.

"I'm sorry, but we really must be going," Alice told them, curtsying politely. Jila, who was dressed in a pair of shorts, didn't even try to imitate Alice.

"I'm late! I'm late!"

Jila looked to her right to see none other then a white rabit wearing a monocle and carrying a huge pocket watch running by them, wiping his brow and looking extremely anxious. He ran straight past the Tweedles and the two girls. "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"

"Oh! Oh, Mr. Rabbit!" Alice called to him, already in pursuit. Jila shrugged to the Tweedles and ran through them, following Alice through the forest.

* * *

"Man…where the heck am I?"

Haru looked up from where he himself had landed, but saw little forest setting. Instead, he seemed to be in some sort of room and he, himself, was sitting on the floor. He looked around and saw that if he wanted to stand up, he'd be too big. The room wasn't made for a person his size. To the right of him was a grandfather clock with rabbit ears and a bed with a rabbit pattern bedspread. At the bottom of the room was a doorknob with a door that was much too small for him.

"This is so weird!" Haru exclaimed, looking around. "I jumped into the forest! How the heck did I end up here?"

"Well, ask yourself! You're the one who got yourself here!"

Haru looked around for the owner of the voice, but saw no one. "W-Who said that?"

"It was me, dear boy! Down here!"

Haru looked down to see that it was none other then the doorknob who was talking to him! He quickly looked down at the doorknob to make sure he wasn't going crazy. True enough, the knob had a mouth and two eyes and was obviously speaking to Haru.

"Woah! A talking doorknob!" Haru gasped, his eyes wide.

"Did your parents never inform you that it's rude to stare?" The doorknob said curtly, and Haru pulled back.

"Umm…excuse me. I'm sorry, but do you know how I got here?" Haru asked.

"I told you before! Ask yourself, you're the one who got yourself here!" The doorknob told him, wrinkling his knob.

"But I crashed in the middle of a forest!" Haru told the doorknob. "And now I'm in this room. It doesn't make sense!"

"Well of course it doesn't make sense!" The Doorknob chortled as if Haru had just stated a completely obvious fact. "But I can help you get out."

"Good!" Haru grinned. "I need to find my sister and my older brother. Can I go out through you?"

"Don't be ridiculous my boy!" The Doorknob frowned. "Look at you! You're huge!"

Haru looked at himself in relation to the doorknob and realized that this was indeed true. He was much too large to even dream about fitting through the door. "B-but now I'll never get out!" Haru grimaced.

"Don't be so forlorn!" the Doorknob smiled and motioned up towards the glass table in the middle of the room that had seemingly just appeared.

"I-I didn't see that before…"

"Drink the bottle on the table!" The doorknob told him. "And I'll let you through to the forest! That's where you want to go, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah! Totally! Thank you so much!" Haru smiled, looking at the small bottle on the table. It had a tag that read "Drink Me" on it. Haru smiled and drank a bit of the bottle. "Woah!"

The next thing Haru knew, he was shrinking considerably. The clock and the bed started to grow, and the glass table looked gargantuan compared to the now smaller Haru.

"Look! Very good!" The Doorknob smiled at the now small-enough-to-fit Haru. Haru grinned and clenched his fists in triumph.

"Great! Now I can go through, right?" he asked, reaching for the doorknob which was now the same size as Haru.

"Oh! Oops!" the doorknob laughed. "I forgot to tell you! I'm _locked_!"

"Oh! That's okay!" Haru grinned, and he unsheathed his Keyblade. The Doorknob looked taken aback, and opened its mouth. Haru didn't waste a second in plunging the Keyblade into the Doorknob and turning it. The Doorknob, who looked rather violated, swung the door open and Haru looked outside to see none other then forest.

"Thanks a lot!" Haru thanked the doorknob, pulling the Keyblade out. The Doorknob spat, as if it had been just forced to take a foul tasting medicine. "Hey…does the door always go here?"

"Of course not, my boy!" The Doorknob frowned. "I can make it go wherever I please, and sometimes, it just goes by itself!"

"This place gets weirder and weirder," Haru laughed, stepping out into the forest. "At least the forest is right sized. I've got to find Jila!"

* * *

"Good, it's not too broken."

Rion had crashed in a thicket of trees but had been able to make a pretty decent landing. He was getting better at this, if he did say so himself. After a quick inspection of the engine, Rion saw that the material was already starting to repair itself, probably another addition by the genius Cid.

"Anyway…" Rion sighed, looking up from the ship. "I'd better find Jila and Haru and start searching for clues."

Rion took a few steps forward only to have something catch his ear. When he stepped closer towards the sound, he realized it was music and singing. "People!" Rion grinned. "Great! I can ask them if they've seen Jila or Haru!"

He took no time in running off through the forest towards the sound of the music and singing. It was getting louder, but Rion still couldn't make out what the people were trying to say. Finally, her rounded a corner and gasped inwardly.

Before him was a small, lopsided house with a straw roof and a small door. It was unlike any house Rion had ever seen before, and it seemed to defy physics with its daring structure.

But that wasn't what interested Rion the most. In front of the house was a table that was at least ten feet in length and covered with tea pots, tea cups, butter, margarine, sugar, and cake. Presents and paper lanterns hung from every which way, and the chairs varied from plain wood to pink plush. It looked like a mishigosh party that had gotten out of control.

"A very merry unbirthday! To you!"

"To me?"

"To you!"

"Who knew? A very merry unbirthday to you!"

"To me?"

"To you!"

"You too!"

Sitting at the end of the table were two…people. If Rion could call them that. One was a brown rabbit with an odd hair cut and a red coat. The other was a short man with white hair, a large nose, and a huge hat.

"A merry…merry…very…unbirthday to…" Rion looked down at a teapot to see a small mouse in a coat pop out of it, his eyes sagging, his voice dreary, "you…" He jumped back into the pot, and the two others continued to down cups and cups of tea.

"Oh! What's this?" The brown hare looked over at Rion, his eyes wide. The man turned as well, his smile just as wide as the hare's eyes.

"Hello, hello! Another guest to our party, I see!"

"A-A party?" Rion asked, stepping into the lawn through the small gate. He sat down at a chair near the two at the end of the table. "What for? Is it someone's birthday?"

"No, no, no my lad!" The man shook his head, taking off his hat to reveal a smaller hat, of which he place on Rion's head. He then took that hat off of Rion to reveal an even small hat, which he then took and used for a tea cup. "Not at all! We're having an 'unbirthday' party!"

"An unbirthday?" Rion asked. "Like…a day that's not your birthday?"

"Precisely!" The hare jumped up, his cup of tea leaping over his head and landing on the saucer in his other hand. "You catch on quick! I'm the March Hare, if you didn't already know!"

"And I'm called the Mad Hatter!" The man now known as the Mad Hatter took a very low bow, sticking his nose in a cup of tea.

"Oh…well, this seems cool and all, but I've got to go," Rion told them, trying to get up.

"It's very rude to sit down when you haven't been invited!" The March Hare remarked, placing a cup of tea on Rion's head, making him sit down again. "Introduce yourself, lad!"

"I-I'm Rion," he told them. "And…I guess it's _my_ unbirthday too…"

"No kidding!" The March Hare gasped.

"What a small world!" the Mad Hatter agreed, pouring another cup of tea from a tea pot with another tea pot as a spout. "Well, since it's your unbirthday too…"

"A very merry unbirthday, to you!"

"To you!"

"To you!"

"To you!"

"A very merry unbirthday!" The March Hare put a cake down in front of Rion, and Rion tried to get up, only to be pushed down by four more cups of tea placed on his head. "To you!"

"To me?"

"To you!"

"Wait, who--?"

"To you!" The Mad Hatter finished the song, and the cake promptly exploded in Rion's face, leaving him covered in pink frosting and candles, still not blown out. "Oh! You're dirty! Some tea will fix that!" He quickly poured a cup of tea over Rion's head, and Rion, thinking it would be hot, tried to dodge it. It split over his face, cleaning the frosting and candles, and Rion didn't feel a thing. In fact, there was no tea in this lap either. It jumped off his clothes and back into the tea pot!

"This is crazy…" Rion muttered. "I should stand up and get my blood pumping."

"If you're standing, your feet must be on the floor!" The Mad Hatter told Rion.

"Umm…yeah, I guess."

"Therefore if your feet are on the floor, you must be standing!"

"That's not necessarily true. You could be sitting down and have your feet on the floor."

"If this party is ridiculous," the Mad Hatter continued. "Then all things ridiculous must be this party!"

"There are loads of things that are ridiculous; not just this party," Rion muttered, scratching the back of his head. "This logic makes no sense."

"Tell me, lad," the March Hare murmured, pouring Rion a cup of tea. "Why is a _raven_ like a _writing desk_?"

"A riddle?" Rion asked, raising an eyebrow. He scratched his head, thinking. "Well…umm…I guess… Let me think. Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"Raven?" The March Hare gasped, grabbing hold of the Mad Hatter. "Like a writing desk? He's raving mad!"

"But it's _your_ riddle!" Rion pointed out, very confused.

"Out! Out!" The Mad Hatter exclaimed, throwing cups of tea at Rion. "Out of our party! We want no mad people at our unbirthday party!"

"Fine!" Rion shouted, dodging an oddly shape tea pot thrown at him. "I was going anyway! This party is crazy!" With that, Rion jumped over the gate and ran back into the forest, leaving the two mad men behind him.

* * *

"Oh dear!" Alice sighed. "We lost him again!" Jila and Alice had lost sight of the White Rabbit after chasing him halfway through the forest. They had arrived at a strange tree with many direction signs nailed into it such as "This way", "There", and "That's the place".

"This is so odd Alice," Jila gulped. "Where should we go now? Do you think we're lost?"

"Oh, I never should have come down that rabbit hole again!" Alice frowned, looking extremely upset. "Not only have I gotten myself lost, but I've gotten you lost as well!"

"That's okay Alice," Jila said, trying to comfort her new traveling partner. "We're not lost. I'm sure someone can give us directions."

"Lost…are we?"

Jila looked up as a mysterious voice that seemed to come from nowhere spoke. She looked up at the nook of the tree they were currently under and gasped at what she saw.

Forming at the top of the tree was a rack of long, smiling teeth. Following the teeth were a pair of small eyes, and finally, stripes that outlines the pudgy body of a cat, which was then filled in with the actual flesh of the cat.

"Oh! Cheshire Cat!" Alice exclaimed, walking under the tree.

"You know this thing?" Jila asked.

"Why, hello there, Alice," the Cheshire Cat grinned, his head spinning one hundred and eighty degrees around his neck. Jila gulped, but the Cheshire Cat seemed unphased. "How are we today?"

"Oh, I'm lost again!" Alice frowned, stomping her foot.

"I see…poor child," the Cheshire Cat continued to smile widely, his voice drawn out and silky. "And who are you, young one?"

"My name is Jila…" Jila muttered to the Cheshire Cat, frowning slightly. "I was wondering if you could tell us which way to go next."

"Well…where do you want to go?" The Cheshire Cat asked.

"I'm looking for my brothers," Jila told him.

"Well…then you should go down the path where they went," he said simply, smiling again.

"B-But I don't know where they went!" Jila told him, and then gasped as the Cheshire Cat's flesh disappeared, leaving only his stripes, smile, and eyes.

"Then you don't know where to go," he shrugged, still smiling.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Jila grimaced, kicking the dirt. "Can you tell me if you've seen them?"

"Hey Jila! There you are!"

Jila turned around to see none other then Haru walking towards her, his Keyblade drawn, a wide smile on his face. "Haru! Did you find Rion?"

"Nah," Haru shook his head. "But I haven't been through this entire forest." Haru looked up at the Cheshire Cat and grimaced. "What the heck is that?"

"Funny question my lad!" The Cheshire Cat laughed. It stood up, returning its flesh, and quickly took off its head. Jila and Haru gasped. "I could be this, or I could be that!" he shrugged, motioning to his smiling head and his headless body. "I think that's for you to decide."

"This thing sure is weird."

"Rion!" Jila smiled as she saw her eldest brother walking through the forest towards her, his eyes on the Cheshire Cat. "Where were you?"

"At my party," he muttered. Jila and Haru shot each other looks, and they both shrugged and returned to their brother. "The ship's fine, by the way. We should be good to leave whenever we want."

"How about now?" Jila asked, shivering. "This place is freaky! And this thing is the freakiest of all!"

"Cheshire Cat, have you seen the White Rabbit?" Alice asked, walking forwards.

"That's Alice, one of the Princesses of Heart," Jila whispered to her brothers. "Seems time here runs pretty slow too. To her, Dad was here only a few months ago."

"I saw him, yes," the Cheshire Cat smiled, putting his head back on and rotating it around. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm curious as to where he went," Alice told him.

"Curious I see," he laughed. "Well, if anyone would know, it would be the Queen."

"Oh, I don't want to see her again!" Alice frowned, stomping her foot. "She almost cut off my head last time!"

"But she'll want to see _you_ my dear," the Cheshire Cat smiled once more, and the three children jumped back as they saw the tree open to reveal a path to the Castle they had seen before. They saw the red symbols were actually hearts. "Do oblige her…or if you wish, don't. I support both and neither."

"This thing is the maddest thing in this world," Rion muttered. "And that's saying something. C'mon, Alice, let's go."

"Hmm?" Alice looked at Rion. "But why? The Queen is quite rude, you know. And violent! She might have your heads!"

"We're looking for something…someone," Rion shrugged. "Do this, for us. We promise that we'll keep you safe."

"Well, if you promise," Alice frowned, then stepped through the tree. "Come! Before the Queen catches us here!"

"Bye crazy cat!" Jila called after the Cheshire Cat as the three children followed Alice through the hole. As they left, the Cheshire Cat smiled, unraveled its stripes, made its flesh disappear, and slowly melted away its eyes. The only thing left amongst the darkness was its wide, mad smile.

* * *

"Woah! This castle sure is impressive!" Jila observed. "Does the Queen rule all of Wonderland?"

"I'm not so sure myself," Alice told her. "But she acts as if she does! Anyway, what are you three looking for? The White Rabbit as well?"

"No, not the White Rabbit," Rion shook his head. "Our Dad. And our Mom. And…uhh…something else. And a girl. Should be…about seventeen."

"Well, I've never seen a girl besides myself and Jila here," Alice told them. "In fact, besides the Queen and the King, I've never seen a normal human here! And I don't even know if I could call those two normal!"

"We should see this 'Queen'," Jila suggested to her brothers. "She might know something about Dad or Mom."

"Or the King's Heart," Haru added under his breath to Jila and Haru.

"Aha!"

The four children gasped as they were immediately surrounded by what seemed to be playing cards with faces and spears. Half were black and half were red, and all had surrounded them. "I see you've returned Alice!"

"Your Majesty," Alice murmured, curtsying. The three other children looked up to see a very large, very red, very angry looking woman with black hair and a crown. Her nose was wrinkled.

"Since you were proven innocent last time," the Queen said, holding her scepter above her head. "I cannot arrest you for attempting to steal my heart!"

"I see, Your Majesty," Alice nodded.

"Don't say anything, my dear!" The Queen instructed, obviously not wishing to be interrupted. "As I was saying… I cannot arrest you for _that_ crime! But you are being arrested for this most recent one!"

"What?" the four children asked simultaneously, their eyes wide.

"I received a message of a most alarming nature!" The Queen said, exemplifying the word "alarming". "That the ruler of this world will have their Keychain stolen!"

"A keychain?" Jila asked her brothers. "What in the world is that?"

"I'm as blank as you," Rion shook his head.

"A Keychain, this letter informed me, is an extremely strong heart!" the Queen explained to the children. "That can only be possessed by the ruler of this land!" The Queen's face began to grow red. "Alice, you are obviously the writer of this letter!"

"What?" Jila asked, stepping forward. "That's ridiculous! You have no proof that Alice did this!"

"SILENCE!" The Queen bellowed, knocking over the cards and making the children take a step back. "You are correct! Alice obviously didn't do it alone! You three were accomplices!"

"This is stupid!" Haru objected. He turned to his siblings and whispered under his breath. "This idiot doesn't seem to have a very strong heart. Who in the world sent her this letter?"

"I'm curious…" Rion nodded. "But think about it. The King's heart was stolen, wasn't it? What if _his_ heart was a Keychain?"

"Stop whispering amongst yourselves and prepare to LOSE YOUR HEADS!" The Queen screamed and the cards began to move in. The three children immediately drew their Keyblades and got into a fighting position. "Attack!"

The cards immediately attacked, and the children were forced to fight against the attacking card army. They were constantly deflecting the large amounts of spear attacks, but, for the most part, the cards were easy to defeat.

"Ow!" Jila grimaced as a red card speared her in the back. She spun around and whacked the card into a nearby hedge. "That smarted! These things are tough!"

"Yeah!" Haru nodded, deflecting a blow from a card with his Shield technique and making a quick counterattack. "And there's no end to them!"

"BLIZZARD!" Rion cast a spell to break out of a huddle of cards that had surrounded him. The cards fell back, rolling over one another. Rion immediately gave a nearby card a strike with his Keyblade, making it fall to the ground.

"HYAH!" Jila screamed, whacking a red card to the ground that was trying to attack Alice. Alice was sticking close to the three children, not wanting to be taken off guard by a card.

"Don't lose while trying to kill them!" The Queen bellowed. "Who will escort me to visit my rose bushes if you all are defeated? There are Heartless everywhere!"

"Heartless?" Jila asked, her eyes wide. "Did she say Heartless?"

"So they've invaded this world as well…" Rion muttered.

"Wait!" Haru grinned. "I've got an idea!" He quickly ducked out from behind a Card and made a quick roll towards the Queen, popping up right in front of her.

"You heathen! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" The Queen shrieked, but Haru simply dropped to his knee, his sword in his hand.

"Your Majesty! We swear to you that we are not behind this travesty," he told her, and the fighting immediately stopped. Both the cards and the children looked on with curiosity and interest at what Haru was proposing. "But we do know who is behind it!"

"HUH?" Jila and Rion asked simultaneously. Haru shot them a look that could be summed up by saying 'shut up, I'm saving out lives here!'. The two other siblings remained quiet as their brother continued.

"YOU know who is behind it?" the Queen asked, narrowing her eyes. "Tell me! Or I'll have your HEAD!"

"We can do better then that!" Haru told her. "We shall personally escort you to your Rose Bushes and defeat all the Heartless in your way!"

"We will?" Jila asked Rion.

"I see…" the Queen nodded, stroking her large chin. "My dear, this is quite a proposition!" she smiled and gave Haru an appreciative pat on the head, her mood now completely changed. "I shall take it! You shall escort me to my Rose Bushes, destroying any Heartless in my way and defeating this letter writer before he or she steals my valuable Keychain!"

With that, the Queen snapped her fingers and the cards quickly jumped into formation once again, leaving the children alone. Haru stood, looked at his siblings, and winked. They smiled at him, and the four children walked to the Queen, kneeling before her.

"We are ready to escort you on your command, your Majesty," Rion told the Queen, acting extremely proper and knight-like.

"I'm ready NOW!" the Queen bellowed, and the children did their best not to grimace. They got to their feet and the Queen immediately began to walk, a few cards and the children following her through a hedge in the shape of a heart.

* * *

"HYAH!" Jila shouted as she struck a Soldier Heartless with her Keyblade. The Queen's Rose Garden, she informed them, was on the other side of a forest adjacent to the Castle. This forest, different from the first they had been in, only had a few very tall trees and many gigantic lily pads and mushrooms.

But the Queen was correct when she had reported about the large number of Heartless. There were Soldier Heartless and Wizard Heartless everywhere, but the children had had little trouble dispatching of these weak creatures.

"You make excellent bodyguards!" The Queen announced, smirking and fanning herself with a fan decorated with hearts. "I must say, once we find the perpetrator of that awful letter, I should make you my personal knights!"

"We are not worthy of the honor, Your Majesty," Haru bowed, then continued to walk with his siblings. Jila made sure they were out of the Queen's earshot, and then began to talk to Haru.

"Yeah, what are we going to do when we find the perpetrator?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "We don't even know who the perpetrator is!"

"Don't worry," Haru smiled. "I'm sure the letter writer is still here, after the Queen's Keychain. We'll be sure to bump into them sooner or later."

"Oh! Another Heartless!" The Queen shouted, pointing ahead of her. The children bounded forward, their Keyblades drawn. In front of the three children was a gigantic Heartless who had a large body, huge muscle bound arms, and a tiny head.

"Man! This one looks tough!" Jila observed.

"It's probably just a sheep in wolf's clothing!" Haru grinned. "Get it!"

The three children ran forward and all three gave the Heartless a resounding slash with their blades, only to be deflected by the being's size. The Heartless then ran forward, blowing the three children back. "Ow!" Jila shouted. "That hurt!"

"YOU FOOLS!" shrieked the Queen. "Defeat that Heartless NOW!"

"But our attacks just bounce off!" Jila said to her brothers. "What do we do?"

"I'll try magic!" Rion told them. "BLIZZARD!" The spell went forward, but the monster seemed hardly affected. "Man…my magic isn't going to be enough to defeat this thing. Guys! Get behind him and attack!"

"Behind him?" Haru asked.

"Maybe if we take him by surprise, we might have a better chance at damaging him!" Rion reasoned, and his two younger siblings nodded.

"Hey, ugly!" Jila grinned. "I'd pay attention to Magic Boy if I were you!" The Heartless seemed to take her advice, seeing that Jila and Haru seemed useless in the battle against it. It ran towards Rion, and Jila and Haru took the opportunity to jump over the Heartless and give it two quick slashes on the back.

The Heartless fell to the ground, and Haru and Jila continued to whack at it with their blades. In a few moments, the Heartless had been defeated and the Queen was once again safe.

"There," Rion grinned. "That wasn't too hard, was it?"

"Good!" The Queen nodded. "Another Heartless defeated. And we're almost to my royal Rose Garden! Tell me, are we getting closer to the mysterious letter writer?"

"Of course Your Majesty," Haru smiled, bowing. "I'm sure that he or she will show themselves soon."

* * *

Soon, they arrived at the Royal Rose Garden, filled with bushels and bushels of red roses on differently shaped hedges. The Queen of Hearts immediately moved to observing her roses with her Card Guards, while the children took in the sight before them.

"These roses are beautiful…" Rion murmured, looking around. His hand reached out to one, but was batted down by Alice.

"I wouldn't touch those if I were you," she said. "The Queen will get angry."

"She's right Rion," Jila told her brother. "It would be better if we just let the Queen alone with her roses while we wait for the mysterious letter-writer to show themselves."

"WHAT IS THIS?"

The children's heads turned as they heard the Queen's shrieking shrill from across the garden. They immediately followed the voice and saw the Queen very red in the face staring at one of her rose bushes.

The children looked towards the bush and their eyes widened as they saw none other then a strange Heartless monster with a bucket of black paint. The monster was busy painting the red roses with the cruel black paint. "YOU'RE PAINTING MY ROSES BLACK!" The Queen shrieked. "HOW DARE YOU! OFF WITH ITS HEAD!"

The Heartless' head would have been very hard to cut off. It was seemingly attached to the rest of its body, and got sharper as it moved towards the top. On the pointed top of the Heartless' head were red and black stripes, not to mention the trademark Heartless symbol. Its body continued from its broad chin and formed into what looked like rose petals at the bottom. Its legs were spindly and striped with gold, red, and black, as were its arms.

The Heartless immediately dropped its paint can as the children entered the Rose Garden. It looked over at the three children and then, as if on command, began to grow. The children gasped as they saw the huge monster grow at least ten times its original size. The children were about up to the giant beast's ankle!

"That thing is HUGE!" Jila shouted, her eyes bulging from their sockets.

"Almost as big as Darkside!" Haru gulped. "What is it?"

"It's obviously a Heartless!" Rion explained, pulling out his Keyblade. "And that means we've obviously got to fight it!"

"Rion's right!" Jila nodded, also readying her blade.

"Your Majesty!" Haru called to the Queen of Hearts, who was looking extremely frightened. "Stand back with Alice! This is our perpetrator, and we'll be sure to get rid of it!"

The Queen, for once, was silent. She simply ran back with Alice, lifting up her dress in order to run faster. She and Alice hid at a safe distance from the battle.

"Are you guys ready?" Jila asked, staring at the huge Heartless, its white, shining eyes staring them down.

"You bet!" Haru nodded.

"Let's go!" shouted Rion, and the three jumped into action.

Jila wasted no time in running up to the Heartless to get in the first attack. "FURY STRIKE!" she shouted, hoping to unleash the attack. Unfortunately, the Heartless sidestepped the strike! "What the?" Jila looked over, then gasped as the giant Heartless hit her straight across the face with what seemed to be a huge whip with rose thorns.

"Jila!" Haru called. He turned to the creature and ran up to attack it as well, dodging the rose whip better then Jila had and getting up to its leg. "HYAH!" Haru raised his Keyblade and struck the Heartless straight across the ankle, making it double over, losing its balance.

"Nice job, Haru!" Rion called. "FIRE!" He pointed his Keyblade at the monster and cast the spell straight into its face. The Heartless reared backwards, then swept its whip across the grass, knocking both Rion and Haru to their feet.

Jila got up from the attack that had been dealt to her and ran up once again to the Dark Rose monster. She slashed its ankle with her Keyblade, and jumped over the whip once it was aimed at her. "Hah!" Jila laughed. "Can't hit me! Nah, nah, nah--" Jila was cut short as the Heartless reversed the direction of the whip, knocking her straight in the jaw and making her keel over onto the grass.

"Jila, you okay?" Rion called to her as she slowly rose to her feet, wounded, but alive.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" she assured her brother, spitting at the ground. "But he's practically untouchable with that huge whip! All we can hit is his ankle!"

"If only there was a way to get up higher…" Rion bit his thumb. "But there's no way we can jump that far."

"I know," Jila nodded, frowning. "We're stuck here on the ground while he's up there in the sky!"

"No ladders!" Rion murmured. "And no stairs!"

Haru stopped, looked up, and grinned. "But we do have a rope!"

"A…rope?" Jila asked, her eyes wide. "What do you mean Haru?"

"He's been showing us all this time!" Haru told her, pointing to the whip that Dark Rose was flailing around. "That whip of his can be used as a rope to get up to his face!"

Jila and Rion looked at each other, then back at Haru, smiling. "That's brilliant, Haru!" Jila grinned. "Do you want to be the one to run up?"

"Yeah, it should be me," said Haru. "I'm the one who thought of this crazy idea!"

"And every other crazy idea we've had down here!" Rion sighed, rolling his eyes. "But it doesn't matter! Your last one worked, and this one might too."

"I'll distract him!" Jila offered. "Haru, when he attacks me, you grab the whip and climb up!"

"You've got it Jila!" Haru nodded, then turned to Rion. "Rion, watch Jila's back. Distract it with magic if you have to."

"You bet, bro," Rion nodded, flashing a "thumb's up" at Haru.

"Okay! Operation Crazy Plan, commence!" Jila raised her hand into the air, then lowered it, as if giving a signal.

Haru ran to the left side of Jila, ready to grasp the whip when it came his way. Jila ran up towards the monster, hacking at its ankles as usual. Rion stood in the back, casting magic as to make sure the Dark Rose monster wouldn't get a good shot in on Jila. "Eat this, Heartless loser! FURY STRIKE!" Jila got a good Fury Strike in on the Heartless, and it looked down, its attention now on the tiny challenger before it. It rose its whip into the air, and Haru readied himself to grasp onto the whip.

The whip ripped downwards and Jila jumped straight over the sliding whip. Haru, however, held out his arms and grasped the whip.

"I'm up!" Haru shouted to his siblings as the whip reached the Heartless' shoulder. Haru wasted no time in jumping off and making a shaky landing on the shoulder of the Dark Rose monster. He then drew his Keyblade and rushed straight for the monster's head, impaling it.

The Heartless writhed in pain and let out a wild scream of anguish that the children hadn't heard from it before. Just as before, a crystalline heart rose from the gigantic monster, and, before the children's very eyes, it disappeared.

Leaving Haru in the air.

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!" Haru screamed as he fell back down to the ground. Jila and Rion rushed to their brother, catching him just before he hit the ground. Haru gave a sigh of relief as his siblings lowered him to his feet.

"Well, we did it guys!" Jila said. "We beat that Heartless!"

"You certainly did, my dears!" The Queen of Hearts said, coming out from her hiding spot and applauding.

"A pleasure, Your Majesty," Haru grinned. "Anyway, the letter writer is now disposed of! He was obviously trying to frighten Your Majesty in order to make your heart more susceptible to capture."

"Hey…what a minute!" said Jila, looking alarmed. "Where's Alice? I thought she was with you!"

The Queen looked at where she had been hiding, and the group saw no sign of Alice. She was gone. "She must have…wandered off during the fight…" Haru suggested.

"Wander off nothing…" Rion said darkly. "She was kidnapped. She's a Princess of Heart remember? Heartless attacks, threatening notes? This is no coincidence."

"But that means she was kidnapped right under our nose!" exclaimed Jila. "And who would want to kidnap the Princesses of Heart again?"

"I'm not sure…" Rion shook his head. "But something's up. Something is brewing right beneath us and I have no idea what."

"EXCUSE ME!"

The children sighed to see the Queen screaming once again at them, obviously not wanting to be ignored. "EXCUSE ME! Don't you children wish to be taken back to my Castle to be made my personal Knights?"

"What about Alice?" Jila asked. "We can't just leave her!"

"Alice would have been sentenced to death anyway for being in cahoots with the Heartless!" The Queen told the children.

"That makes no sense!" Haru intervened, only to have Rion put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Isn't that the way everything is here?" Rion sighed, shaking his head. "Anyway, obviously, there's nothing here of consequence. We know have to find Alice and find out just exactly what's going on around here."

"Rion's right!" Jila told her brothers. "We'd better get back to the Gummi Ship and head out to the next world. We've explored everything there is to here!"

"WHAT?" the Queen roared, growing red in the face. "For this you shall lose your heads! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!"

"Sorry, we're out of here!" the three children said simultaneously, then ran out past the Queen. They sprinted towards the forest, the Card Guards doing a very poor job of pursuing them.

* * *

"I see…three Keyblade wielders. And they defeated the Dark Rose Monster…"

"Hah! A lucky shot!"

"Right! Couldn't have said it better _myself!_"

"Will you shut up, already? Your incessant banter is giving me a headache."

"What do you think, Maleficent?"

From the dark shadows, illuminated by a green stone tablet showing the three children running through the Wonderland forest, came the dark witch Maleficent, once thought to be destroyed by Ansem's hand. She smiled down at the three children, then touched her staff, erasing them from the tablet.

"Hey! I was watching that!"

"Too bad," Maleficent snapped. "Anyway, these runt Keyblade wielders should prove no problem to us."

"Have you contacted our leader yet?"

"You'll refer to her as 'Mistress' if you know what's good for you!" Maleficent snapped. The others in the room drew back at her harsh tone. "No. I have not yet contacted her. She's currently busy…"

"With what, per say?"

Maleficent grinned, her white teeth contrasting her green skin. "Getting our next piece, of course."

* * *

"Heehee…seems Alice is gone…"

Perched in the tree that led to the Queen's Castle was none other then the Cheshire Cat, grinning wildly as usual. "Again! Gone off! She really should pay attention. But then again, attention has so much money already!"

The Cheshire Cat gave a smiling sigh and once again took of his head. "Now that's a load of my shoulders."

"How about a load off your head?"

The Cheshire Cat continued to grin, even as a long, lance like object was thrust through his chest. It made no sound, no cry of anguish, and no laugh of delight. It simply remained silent, even as the object was taken out, a Keychain with a miniature Wonderland perched on the end. The figure then plucked the Keychain off the end and added it to the others amongst his or her collection.

The Cheshire Cat at first seemed no different, but, suddenly, its smile disappeared off its face.

The Cheshire Cat no longer smiled.

* * *

OH MY GOSH. That was so much typing! I seriously thought I was going to DIE. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I've always wanted to write a piece of Alice in Wonderland fanfiction, and, well, here it is!

Until then,

Ciao for now!


	7. Level Seven: Kuzco's Empire

Hey there folks! What's going on? I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter of "The Keyblade Master Chronicles"! This one is my first new addition into the Kingdom Hearts Universe: _The Emperor's New Groove_!

I LOVE _The Emperor's New Groove_. It has to be the best Disney movie ever made. It is SO hilarious, I swear to God.

As with most of the Kingdom Hearts levels, this will be taking place in the middle of the movie, so Kuzco is still selfish and Yzma is still…well…a person.

Anyway, enjoy! This is a tight squeeze of a chapter for my deadline, but I hope that you'll all enjoy it!

* * *

Level 7 – Kuzco' s Empire

* * *

"I can't believe we allowed Alice to be kidnapped right under our noses!" Jila said, punching the seat in the Gummi Ship. They were flying along towards their next destination, and all Jila had been able to talk about was their latest adventure in Wonderland. "I feel so stupid!" 

"At least we defeated that Heartless," Haru smiled at his sister, trying to cheer her up. "The Dark Rose Heartless, remember?"

"Who cares about that?" Jila pouted. "Alice is in danger and it's our fault!"

"We'll just search for her too," Rion shrugged from the driver's seat. "Don't spaz, Jila. Everything will be fine. We need to focus on other things right now."

"Like what?" Jila asked, frowning. "How can I focus on something else at a time like this?"

"I was referring to the "Keychains"," Rion said. His younger siblings looked up, now interested. "Dad never mentioned them to us in his stories."

"Maybe they didn't exist when Dad went on his adventure," Haru suggested. "Or maybe Dad just didn't have to worry about them."

"Or maybe they don't even exist," Jila shrugged, sitting back down.

"I doubt that," Rion said to his younger sister. "Those Heartless were there for a reason. And remember the King? It's the same as with him."

"But the Queen was fine," Jila said. "After we beat off those Heartless, of course."

"The note that the Queen had said that the Keychain is the strong heart of the ruler of the world," Haru said. "I never thought that that loud mouthed wind bag had a strong heart."

"I'm with you there," Jila giggled.

"But still…" Rion said. "I say we look into this. When we find the ruler of the next world, we stick to him or her like glue to see if his or her heart is in danger of being stolen."

"But what about Dad?" Jila asked.

"We'll do that too," Rion said. "There are three of us, aren't there?"

"I do NOT vote for splitting up again," Haru said defiantly.

"I'm not saying we should," Rion shook his head. "No, instead, we should keep our eyes out for everything. The Heartless seem to be following us, so finding them should be no trouble. As for Dad…well…we'll just have to be on the lookout."

"Look!" Haru said, pointing to the Gummi Ship control panel. "A world is coming up to the left of us!"

"A left turn?" Rion asked. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we just keep going straight?"

"If there's a world, then we should definitely stop!" Haru argued. "Dad and Mom could be on that world!"

"Haru's right," Jila nodded. "Let's turn, Rion!"

Rion nodded to his siblings and turned the Gummi Ship left, swerving off the original course set. "Okay…I see the world coming up."

"Look!" Jila pointed to the world. "Let's land on that big golden building! That looks like the palace! That's where the ruler lives, probably!"

"Nice thinking, Jila," Haru nodded. "Land there Rion!"

"You've got it," Rion nodded to his siblings as he rounded in on the world's large golden palace. It was a small world, with a few jungles and huts here and there. The real focal point of its entire landscape was the gold palace that the children were currently heading towards.

* * *

"Well, here we are…" remarked Rion as the three children reached the entrance of the great palace. "I guess we should just go in." 

With that, the children walked up to the doors, only to be stopped by two muscular body painted guards. "Who are you?"

"Umm…I'm Jila and these are my brothers."

"State your business."

"We're here to see the ruler…"

"Do you have an appointment?" one guard said, and, strangely enough, he pulled out a black appointment book and began to flip through it. "We don't have you penciled in here."

"We don't have a--" Jila began, only to be cut off by Rion.

"We do have an appointment," he told them. "The ruler will be expecting us, I'm sure."

Haru and Jila decided to go with the flow and nodded to the guard, who sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but Empress Yzma has specifically requested that we let no visitors in."

"Huh?" Haru raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"We're doing renovations on the palace," the guard said. "Empress Yzma has demanded the entire place be redecorated."

"Why?" Jila asked. "Is there something wrong with the old interior?"

"You must have heard," the guard said. "Our old Emperor, Emperor Kuzco was attacked and killed by the Heartless just a few days ago."

"Huh?" All three children gasped.

"The Heartless?" Jila asked. "They're here?"

"They were," the guard corrected. "But Empress Yzma did away with them. Too late to save the Emperor of course. She was beside herself at his loss."

"Well we have to get in and see the Empress!" Haru insisted. "We've got information on the Heartless! That's why we're here!"

"Information indeed!"

The children gasped as the huge doors flung open, flattening the guards against the walls. The three looked up to see that a large muscular man wearing blue and gold had opened the door. He didn't look too bright, but strong, to say the least.

Behind him was the woman that had spoken. The children looked at her as the man stepped aside, and they gasped.

"What is that?" Haru asked.

"Maybe it's a Heartless!" Jila suggested.

"Don't get too close!" Rion warned. "It might attack!"

"You brats!" the woman screeched. The children had reason to be afraid. The woman was extremely old, with sickly looking skin, huge wrinkles, and a figure that reminded the children of a bent tree branch. She wore an outlandish violet outfit that shimmered whenever she walked. "I am the Great Empress Yzma!"

"_She's_ the Empress?" Jila asked, grimacing. "Man…we keep running into obnoxious, ugly rulers."

"I thought you might come soon!" Yzma smirked. "You fowl little traitors! KRONK!"

"Ahh…yeah Yzma?" the dim looking man asked, turning his head. "You say something?"

"Seize them Kronk! And the rest of you!" She pointed to the guards who had just freed themselves from the slammed doors. "Don't sit around like drunk monkeys! Seize these traitors! They work for the Heartless!"

"Huh?" Jila yelled as she felt the guards grab her brothers. "She's lying! We're the enemies of the Heartless!"

"Kronk!" Yzma said to the large man. "Grab the annoying whiny girl!"

"Uhh…I don't know Yzma," Kronk hesitated. "She's just a girl. Isn't that…uhh…a little low? Even for you?"

"KRONK!" Yzma screamed. "DO WHAT I SAY BEFORE I BECOME ANGRY!"

Kronk looked as though he was debating with himself. Jila looked on as her brothers were carried off by the guards and Yzma looked at Kronk with a mystified expression. "Well, Yzma just told me to grab that girl over there, but I'd feel kind of low doing it."

"Oh brother!" Yzma rolled her eyes. "FORGET IT! YOU!" She pointed to another guard in the room behind her. "Capture that girl! She's on the side of the Heartless!"

The Guard grabbed Jila as well and walked by Yzma obediently. "H-hey! Let me go!" Jila shouted, struggling in the man's grip. But it was no use. She was being carried away just behind her brothers.

"Throw them in the prison with the other traitor and his villainous llama!" Yzma commanded. She then looked back at Kronk, who was still talking to himself.

"B-but…but…don't argue, it makes me awkward."

"KRONK!" Yzma shrieked, making Kronk break out of his trance. "Come! We have much to do!"

"Oh! Roger Yzma," Kronk nodded, following the scary Empress into her palace. As Kronk walked through the archway, Yzma turned, grabbed the large door handles, and then slammed the door shut with a deafening "boom"!

* * *

"Hey! Watch it!" Jila shouted as the guard threw her into a cell with her two brothers. "You've got to believe us! We're telling the truth! We're not your enemies!" 

"Keep talking, little girl, they ain't listening."

The three children sat up and looked to their left to see they had cell mates. One was a large man wearing a green tunic and a brown hat. Next to him was a llama, lying down and looking very depressed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jila said sarcastically to the man. "I see that you're real optimistic about getting out of here."

"Oh," the man said, and the children were surprised to hear a different voice. "That wasn't me," he said kindly. He then pointed to the llama next to him. "It was him."

The llama rose its head and looked at the three children. "Hey brats."

"OH MY GOD, A TALKING LLAMA!" Jila screamed, grasping her brothers out of fear.

"Well at least you believe me!" the llama said. "Everyone's all like 'ooo, the fat guy's talking for his llama'." He did a high pitched voice for "everyone".

"W-wait…" Rion stumbled. "You're…a…a…"

"A talking llama?" Haru finished. The llama rolled his eyes.

"Uhh…ch'ya?" he said sarcastically. "And now, not only do I have to share this cramped cell with tubby here, but now three brats from nowhere."

"How can you talk?" Jila asked, widening her eyes.

"I'm not really a llama, stupid!" he said, rolling his eyes again. "I'm the Emperor. Can you say that with me? Em-per-or?"

"Emperor?" Rion asked, sitting up. "But the guards told us that the last emperor was killed by the Heartless."

"Ahah, and you believed them," the llama laughed. "That's cute."

"Well, what really happened?" Jila asked.

"What am I, an information booth?" the llama asked rudely. "Ask tubby here if you want to know."

The children turned to the man and he looked at them with a kind smile. "Hi there. My name's Pacha, by the way. Who might you be?"

"I'm Jila," she said.

"Rion."

"And Haru. We're brothers and sister."

"How'd you end up here?" Pacha asked, smiling at them.

"Well…we're travelers--" began Jila.

"Oh _great_! Tourists!" the llama said sarcastically. "My favorite people!"

"And we came here looking for the ruler of this world…" Jila muttered, eyeing the llama with disdain.

"Well this is him here," Pacha chuckled. "He might not look it, but this Emperor Kuzco. He got transformed into a llama, you see."

"How?" Rion asked.

"You know that scary woman with the big guy?" Pacha asked.

"Wait…was this woman scary beyond all reason?" Haru asked.

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah, we know her."

"She's been plotting to take over the Empire for awhile now," Pacha told them. "Or at least that's what Emperor Kuzco says. And those strange black things? The Heartless? Well, Yzma had them attack, then slipped Emperor Kuzco poison in the middle of the chaos. That's what turned him into a llama."

"Why is she Empress now if she attacked the Empire?" Jila asked. "It makes no sense."

"Uhh, duh!" Kuzco rolled his eyes at her. "No one actually SAW her, except for tubby here."

"I was walking to the palace for a meeting with the Emperor here," Pacha explained. "When I heard her and the big guy giving orders to the Heartless. I thought that I would warn the Emperor…but when I got here--"

"Oh wait, wait, wait!" Kuzco jumped up, a wide grin on his hairy llama face. "I want to tell this part! You see, he got angry cause I wanted to tear down his village. Can you believe him?"

"And you're still going to do it!" Pacha frowned.

"After we get out of here and I get back to normal," Kuzco said, narrowing his eyes at Pacha, "you bet I'm going to. It's Kuzco-topia!" He sighed happily. "It's my birthday gift to me!"

Jila, Rion, and Haru looked at Kuzco with looks of disbelief. "Are you serious?" Haru asked the llama. "You'd force dozens of people out of their homes just for you?"

"Uhh yeah," the emperor nodded. "Me. Moi. I don't see the problem here."

"How selfish!" Jila spoke up. "You're really selfish and rude, you know that?"

"Oh yeah, and I'm going to listen to someone who looks like she just took the baby bottle out of her mouth?" Kuzco remarked.

"Just because you're the Emperor doesn't mean you can act this way!" Jila said.

"Uhh…yeah it does," Kuzco nodded, smirking. "And anyway, I don't want to waste my energy on you. I've got to think of a way to get back in my body and back on my throne with everyone loving me."

"I've got it," Rion got to his feet and moved over to the bars. "I know how we can get out of here."

"How Rion?" Haru asked, standing up with Jila.

"I'm going to melt the hinge of the door with my magic," he explained. "When it falls, Haru, I want you to make a shield around it so it won't make a sound when it hits the ground. We can slip away undetected then."

"All right," Haru nodded. They both took out their Keyblades, and Kuzco and Pacha looked at them with odd expressions.

"FIRE!" Rion cast the spell, then held the Keyblade steady to the hinge of the door as it began to melt. "Darn it. I've never kept my fire on this long. It's draining the energy out of me…"

"You've almost got it!" Pacha said, rising to his feet. He walked over to the door and began to push. "I'll help you! That way, it won't take as much energy!"

"Thanks," Rion smiled at the man and continued to burn at the hinge. Due to Pacha's force on the gate and Rion's fire, it was giving way.

"You're actually going to do it!" Kuzco cried, surprised. "I can't believe you're actually getting me out of here!"

"Haru, now!" Rion shouted to his brother as the gate fell.

"We did! Boom, baby!" yelled Kuzco, who then ran past both Pacha and Rion and knocked the gate to the ground, making a huge clashing noise. "Oh…oops. My bad."

"They've escaped! Everyone down here!" The guards began to run down the stairs to the prison, and the three children and Pacha looked at the Emperor reproachfully.

"Oh look!" they heard a familiar old, scary-beyond-all-reason voice coo in a high shrill. "Those locked up Heartless got out! Oh well!"

"Heartless?" Jila asked, unsheathing her blade as well. "Oh my gosh, this is bad!"

"Look! Here they come!" Rion pointed towards the stairs where dozens of Shadow, Soldier, and Powerwild Heartless were running towards the group, looking for a fight.

"Uh-uh-uh what do I do?" Kuzco asked, looking around.

"Fight, if you want to live!" Haru shouted, bounding forward and slicing at a Soldier Heartless.

"Hyah!" Jila did a sweeping slice at a Powerwild. Pacha was throwing nearby barrels at the Heartless, while Kuzco sat there, looking scared.

"Hey! I'm the Emperor! At least protect me!" he complained, then screamed as a shadow came running towards him. He took his back legs and kicked the Heartless across the room as it attacked, sending it into the wall and making it explode into a cloud of black smoke. "Woah! I-I did it! I beat it! L-look, I beat it!"

"We don't care!" Haru said, slicing another Heartless that Rion had already set aflame. "Just keep fighting and make yourself useful for once!"

"Hey! I am the Emperor! No way am I letting you boss me around," Kuzco said, sticking his nose into the air, only to be knocked over by a Powerwild. "Ow! What the heck? That's it, you're going down!"

Kuzco gave the Powerwild another hard kick, defeating it in one blow while the children dispensed of the last batch of Heartless. "We win!"

"But there are more coming!" Rion warned them. "We've got to get out of here!"

"I'm with the brat," Kuzco said, running up the stairs. "The faster we get out of here, the faster I get my body back."

The five ran up the spiral staircase at top speed, not even bothering to look at the Heartless who were in hot pursuit. Soon, they reached the surface of the palace to be met by Yzma, Kronk, and a handful of guards. "They're the ones that killed the emperor! Seize them!"

"Wait! Wait, no, stop!" Kuzco tried to speak, but the low roars of the guards drowned him out.

"C'mon, we have to get out of here!" Rion told them. "Make a break for the door!"

"Hey wait! This is _my_ palace!" Kuzco exclaimed. "I'm not leaving!"

"Fine, if you want to get killed, stay here!" Jila told him. "If you want to live…RUN!"

With that, the five sprinted around the guards and Yzma, running to the door. They got through, across the rope bridge, and ran towards the jungle path. "After them Kronk!" Yzma exclaimed. "Make sure they're dead by the time you get back!"

"Roger Yzma!" Kronk nodded, smiling. "I'm on my way." With that, he left the palace, chasing after the five.

* * *

"Great!" Kuzco exclaimed, panting as they group stopped deep in the Jungle. "Here I am, in a llama's body, trapped in the jungle, with three brats and Pacha. This is just _dandy_…" 

"Would you stop complaining?" Jila snapped. "We're not lost! All we have to do is make it back to the palace and get you turned back to normal."

"Then why the heck did we run away?" Kuzco asked.

"We would have been killed if we stayed there!" Haru exclaimed.

"It's getting dark," said Pacha kind-heartedly. "Let's rest up for the night. I'll build a fire."

Pacha took off his tunic and made his way over to a dry patch of jungle near a river to gather firewood. Kuzco sighed and sat down on the dirt. "I'll just sit here and watch, okay?"

"You know," called Pacha. "Have you thought…about what I said?"

"I'm not changing my mind about Kuzco-topia, if that's what you're getting at," Kuzco said dryly.

"Now, I think, if you really think about it," Pacha said, lighting up the fire with a small stick. "You'll realize that you're endangering the happiness of others just for yourself."

"Yeah. And I care because…?"

"Well," Pacha laughed. "C'mon, nobody's _that_ heartless!"

Kuzco paused. "Except for those weird things we fought. And besides them, I really don't care."

"I never thought I'd meet anyone this selfish, but you've taught me to believe anything's possible," Pacha said angrily, frowning at Kuzco.

"Oh, isn't that sweet? Believe!" Kuzco said sarcastically.

"I can't believe you!" Pacha remarked. "We could have let you die back there! And then all of my problems would have been over, and these three wouldn't have had to lug you everywhere!"

"Yeah, but you didn't," Kuzco smirked. "That makes you ugly, bratty, and stupid, all in four!"

"What did you say?" Jila asked angrily.

"Well I'm lost," said Kuzco simply. "And I need to get back to the Palace, so you four are going to take me there, got that?"

"Fine," Rion sighed, standing up. "If it'll shut you up. Guys, I think we were wrong about this world."

"Huh?" Haru looked over at Rion. "What do you mean?"

"This guy's heart is obviously way too weak to be a Keychain…" Rion muttered. "He's selfish, arrogant, and doesn't care about anyone but himself."

"What did you say…?" Kuzco asked, looking at Rion with dark eyes. "What's all this 'weak heart' stuff you're talking about?"

"Yzma has more of a chance of having the Keychain then this guy," Rion sighed. "I think we should leave in the morning."

"What about the Heartless?" Jila asked.

"They'll get out of here once we leave," Rion shrugged. "They'll realize there's no keychain here and get out soon enough."

"Hey, I don't know what these 'Keychains'," Kuzco used his hooves as quotation marks, "are, but I'm not letting you just leave me here with my Kingdom taken over and those freaky things running around."

"Well, these three don't know the way back," Pacha said simply. "And I'm not taking you back until you change your mind about the village. So you're stuck here."

Kuzco snarled under his breath. "Fine! I don't need you! I'll find my own way back."

"With the Heartless everywhere?" Pacha asked. "I don't think so."

"I'll take them with me," Kuzco said, nodding his head towards the children. Haru and Jila turned their backs.

"We're not being your bodyguards!" Jila remarked coldly.

"Yeah, Jila's right. You're crazy if you think we're going to help someone as horrible as you!" Haru said.

"They've got a point," Rion told the Emperor. "Why in the world should we help you? You're no longer any use to us."

"Hey! I'm in trouble here," Kuzco frowned. "And I'm the Emperor! Aren't you going to lift even a finger to help me out?"

"You know what…?" Pacha spoke up and Kuzco turned his head. "One day, you're going to end up all alone, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself."

"Thanks for that, I'll log THAT away," Kuzco rolled his eyes.

"It's going to be a long night…" sighed Juka as she fell down, ready for a good night's rest.

* * *

"You're not really going to just kill them are you?" 

Kronk was standing outside the clearing where the five currently were, staring in with small beady eyes. He had taken the liberty of throwing himself in mud and leaves in order to camouflage his appearance. It was a poor disguise.

"Huh?" Kronk looked over to see his shoulder angel appear, looking at him reproachfully. "There you are."

"I say you do 'em in. What did they ever do for you?" Kronk's shoulder devil also popped up in a puff of red smoke. "If you don't…Yzma'll get mad."

"Oh shut up," said the angel.

"You shut up."

"You."

"You."

"You."

"You infinity."

"Grr…"

"Look buddy, I'm going to give three good reasons why should go in there and do away with them," the shoulder devil told Kronk. "Reason number one. Look at those kids. They've got funky keys and weird clothes."

"I thought I told you to be more accepting of other people's fashion choices…" remarked the shoulder angel.

"Reason number two. I can stand on my head. See?" The shoulder devil then proceeded to stand on his head on Kronk's shoulder.

"But…but I don't understand--"

"Hey, wait. He's got a point."

"Anyway…you guys are only making things more difficult," said Kronk. "So…uhh…be gone, or however I get rid of you guys."

"Whatever."

"See ya."

The two puffed themselves away, and Kronk was left along, biting his nails in anticipation. Finally, he backed slowly away and walked back up the path. "It's…not like they'll ever come back, right?"

* * *

The next morning, Pacha and the children had gathered by the river eating the few small portions that Pacha had thrown together for them. 

"This is good," Jila remarked, smiling at Pacha. "Thanks for making it."

"I didn't," Pacha shook his head. "My wife did."

"What happened to your sweater thing?" Haru asked, pointing at Pacha's bare shoulders.

"Oh, that?" Pacha asked. He pointed to the side of him, and the children looked over to see Kuzco lying asleep with the tunic over him. ((WWWWWWEEEEEEEEE! HAPPY 2006! YAAAAY!))

"You really are a nice guy Pacha," said Jila, looking up at him. "He's so cruel. He's going to tear down your home, but you're still helping him?"

"He's got no one else to help him," Pacha shrugged. "And you never know. There's also some good in everyone."

"Ahem."

The four looked up to see none other then Kuzco walking towards the, the tunic in his hand. "Look…I thought about what you said. And…maybe when we get back to the palace…I mean, there are lots of hilltops and…" he looked into the water and diverted his gaze.

"Are you changing your mind?" Jila asked. "You're not going to destroy Pacha's village after all?"

Pacha looked at Kuzco with narrowed eyes. He then stuck out her hand and Kuzco reached for it. "Don't shake…" he told him, "unless you mean it."

Kuzco smiled, then took his hand and gave it a good shake. Pacha returned it heartily and smiled. "Great! This is great! Let's get you back to palace and turned back to normal, all right?"

"We'll go with you!" Jila told them. "Our ship is near the Palace anyway, and we might as well help you out."

"Hey, this being nice thing does have its perks," Kuzco laughed. "I've got a guide and bodyguards all in one swoop."

"Don't get too high and mighty," Haru told him.

"Wouldn't even dream of it," smirked Kuzco as the five began to walk through the Jungle.

* * *

"Kronk, you had me worried when you mixed up those poisons and didn't capture that girl," Yzma smiled as she sipped her drink, now dressed in a sparkling pink outfit. "But now that all five of them are dead, we have nothing to worry about." 

"Uh yep!" Kronk nodded. "Dead. Completely and totally dead."

Yzma raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Kronk…you _did_ kill of Kuzco and the Keyblade brats, didn't you?"

"Oh, they're dead all right!" Kronk nodded, burning his hand on the food he was busy making. "Can't get much deader then they are, except if we…uhh…killed them again!"

"Which you might have to do."

Yzma looked up and frowned as a black cloaked figure appeared in the room. "What are you doing here Maleficent?" Yzma asked. "I did what you asked and got rid of the Keyblade Wielders. That was my end of the deal, wasn't it?"

"I remember," Maleficent smiled wickedly. "I give you the Heartless so you can take over the Empire, and you get rid of the Keyblade wielders for me."

"So why are you still here?" Yzma asked.

"Because the Keyblade wielders are still alive."

Yzma spat out her drink in Kronk's face and immediately began to turn red with anger. "KRONK! YOU IMBECILE!"

"They're on their way to the Palace right now," Maleficent informed her. "I expect them taken care of soon."

"What about that Keychain thing you mentioned?" Yzma asked. "Where can you find that?"

"It's coming towards the Palace too," Maleficent smirked. "But don't worry, I already have a plan to obtain it."

"It's none of my business," Yzma shrugged. "The Empire is mine and that Kuzco brat is gone. That's all I care about." Yzma gritted her teeth. "Or he WOULD BE GONE, IF IT WEREN'T FOR SOMEONE!"

"I'll send out one of my own warriors," Maleficent smiled. "Right, Aece?"

From the shadows came none other then blonde woman from before, carrying her buster sword, a few wizards darting around her. "Fine. You want me to go and capture the Emperor?"

"No," Maleficent shook her head. "I'll explain it all to you in a bit."

* * *

"So after we cross this bridge, we'll be at the palace?" Jila asked as the group arrived at the rope bridge they had been at a bit before. 

"Yep," Pacha nodded. "Once we get there, we'll grab the potion that'll turn the Emperor back into a human and get rid of the Heartless."

"Yeah, I mean, Yzma's got that "secret lab" thing," Kuzco said. "And she's the one who turned me into a llama in the first place, so she's definitely got to have a way to change me back."

"Okay! Then I'll go first!" Jila smiled, running over the bridge, her brothers and Pacha behind her.

"Jila, watch out!" Rion called to her. "Don't go so fast!"

"I'm fine!" she said. "See?"

"AAAH!" Pacha screamed as he stepped on a faulty board and fell, the ropes catching his fall! The three children spun around and gasped.

"Pacha!" Haru shouted. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! Help me up!" Pacha said, reaching out his hand.

"Umm…no I don't think we will," Kuzco smiled, jumping over the broken spot. The three children looked at him, their mouths wide open. "C'mon kids, let's go."

"What do mean?" Jila asked.

"I need you three to beat up the Heartless and Yzma," Kuzco said, narrowing his eyes. "Duh."

"What about Pacha?"

"I was going to destroy his house anyway when we got back to the palace, but I kind of like this better," Kuzco grinned.

"KUZCO!" Pacha called as the llama began to strut away. "We shook hands on it!"

Kuzco stopped and the children stared after him. Obviously, Pacha had struck a nerve. "You know the funny thing about shaking hands?" The Emperor asked, clicking his hooves together. "You need hands!"

"We'll help you Pacha!" Jila called, drawing her Keyblade and holding it out for Pacha. He grabbed hold of it and the three helped pull him up. Kuzco frowned at the four as Pacha made his way to edge of the bridge.

"Thanks kids," he sighed as she hit solid ground. "I owe you one." Kuzco followed him, looking upset and angry.

"Don't mention it," Haru grinned as they walked to the edge of the bridge. "I mean, it's not like he," he shot an angry look at Kuzco, "would have saved you."

"Huh?" Jila looked down and gasped as she saw the earth coming out from underneath them. "Guys, watch out!"

But it was too late. The ground and the bridge gave way and the three children found themselves without anything to stand on and nothing to grab hold of.

"Hey watch out!"

The three children found themselves jerked back and thrown to the solid ground by some force they hadn't seen. When they looked up they saw Kuzco grinning down at them. "Oh my gosh! Did you see that? I snatched you right out of the air!"

He continued to babble about his great deed and even perform a sort of victory dance that the four people looking at him were not paying attention to. Instead, their eyes were wide and were staring at Kuzco. He stopped, noticing their eyes on him. "What?"

"Y-You just saved our lives…" Haru muttered.

Kuzco paused. "Yeah, so?"

"I knew it!" Pacha chuckled. "There _is_ some good in you!"

"Uh, no!"

"Yes, I saw you!"

"No, no, no."

"You could have let them fall," Pacha suggested.

"Oh c'mon!" Kuzco shot back. "They're just kids! Nobody's that heartless!" He quickly caught himself and covered his mouth with his hoof as the four smiled at him.

"C'mon!" Jila smiled at Kuzco and grabbed his hoof, making him look uncomfortable. "Let's get to palace! It's right up there, isn't it?"

"Look, don't get all friendly just cause I saved your lives and all," Kuzco said, taking his hoof away and wiping it on his chest. "But you're right. We've got to get to the palace quick."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The five looked up and turned their head to see none other then the blonde haired woman from before walking slowly out towards them. Jila, Haru, and Rion gasped. "It's you!" Haru exclaimed.

"Emperor Kuzco," the woman bowed. "I'm a guard at your palace. Empress Yzma has been apprehended and we've found the solution to transform you back into a human."

"Wow, that's great!" Kuzco smiled widely. "Now we can just go back! Easy peasy!"

"However…" the woman continued. "These four are not to be trusted. They're with the Heartless and Yzma."

"What?" Kuzco looked up at his comrades, hurt and taken aback. "You are?"

"No!" Jila shook her head. "She's lying! She's the one with the Heartless!"

"I can't believe it," Kuzco shook his head, as if coming to a realization. "You were leading me into a trap the whole time and I almost fell for it!"

"She's lying!" Rion exclaimed. "Why aren't you believing us?"

"And you even used kids…" Kuzco said, disgusted. "I'm leaving. Throw these people in prison!" Kuzco commanded the girl and she nodded, snapping her fingers. Behind her, at least a dozen guards came up and grabbed hold of the four.

"Kuzco!" Pacha exclaimed. "You're making a mistake!"

"Oh, and by the way," Kuzco smirked. "When I get back to the Palace, I AM building Kuzco-topia!"

"Kuzco! Stop! She's lying!" The children tried to shout after the emperor, but he ignored them, frowning.

"Okay, take me back to the palace, will ya?" he asked the woman. "Hey, I've never seen you around. What's your name?"

"Aece," she said coldly. "But you won't need to know my name for long."

"Why's that?" Kuzco's eyes widened as the broad side of the woman's huge sword hit him the back of the head, knocking him out cold. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Good," Aece muttered. "One piece of trash taken care of."

* * *

"I can't believe him!" Jila shouted, kicking the bars of the Prison cell they were now locked in. "He completely betrayed us! And just when we were thinking he was going to be our friend, too!" 

"Jila, getting angry isn't going to help our situation," Rion told her. "We have to get out of here."

"What about your fire trick?" Haru asked. Rion shook his head.

"I'm way too out of power to use that technique again," Rion said, shaking his head. "It drained me enough to keep it on like that."

"So we're stuck," Haru sighed. "Just great. This is all Kuzco's fault!"

"I'm willing to forgive him."

The children looked up to see Pacha smiling at them peacefully. The children frowned and furrowed their eyebrows. "He threw us to the dogs!" Jila exclaimed. "How can you just forgive him like that?"

"Cause inside, he's just lonely," Pacha explained, and the children looked surprised at his reaction. "He's lonely and scared. But inside, I know he's got a good heart. He'll save us."

"W-Well, even if you're right!" Jila sighed. "We've got to get out of here!"

"Got anymore techniques with those blades of yours?" Pacha asked, and Jila stared at her sword.

"I don't know if Fury Strike can cut through steel," she shook her head. "If only I had a new technique."

"And your sword skills still aren't strong enough Jila," Rion reminded her. "You'd need some sort of jolt."

"And what about keeping that jolt inside?" Haru told his older brother. "The energy would just be wasted on excess movement."

Jila's eyes widened, and she smiled. "I've got an idea, guys! But we're all going to have to focus!"

"How so?" Rion asked, drawing his Keyblade as Haru had just done. "What's your idea?"

"I'm going to come up with a new technique!" she told them. "But I'll need a jolt of lightning!"

"Lightning?" Rion asked.

"I remember in my fight with Semih!" she told them. "Semih powered up her arrows with a thunder spell!"

"But I don't have the thunder spell," Rion told her.

"Then you've got to learn it now!" Jila insisted to him. Her brother blinked, then nodded.

"But Jila, Haru's right," Rion told her. "Even if I could jolt up your new sword slash with thunder, the power would be wasted before you could slice through the bars."

"That's where Haru's shield power comes in," Jila told him. "Haru, you've got to make a bubble around me to keep the lightning energy radiating through! That way, energy will be recycled instead of wasted!"

"All right…" Haru nodded. "We'll do our best."

"We all just have to concentrate!" Jila insisted to them. "So, everyone, close your eyes and think real hard!"

The children did as they were told and shut their eyes, concentrating as hard as they could on what they had to do. Haru's hands began gathering green energy that began to flow through his Keyblade. Rion's hands began to spark, and jolts of electricity surrounded his blade. Jila took began to gather her own strong energy that flew in gusts of wind. Finally, she opened her eyes, as did her siblings.

"DOWNWARD SLASH!" Jila rose into the air with her Keyblade above her. She reeled downwards onto the gate, waiting for her brothers to take their cues.

"THUNDER!" Rion shouted, throwing the sparks at Jila's Keyblade, where they lighted up, giving the blade a jolt.

"PROTECTIVE WARD!" Haru finished, forming a green bubble around Jila where the electricity darted around. Jila came down on the gate, and, with her electricity jolt and new sword technique, sliced the gate straight in two, sending the pieces to the ground.

"What an effort!" cried Jila, panting as she hit the ground. "But there's no time to congratulate ourselves! We've got to go!"

* * *

"Huh…wh-where…" 

Emperor Kuzco blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to regain his vision and see exactly where he was. His head darted around, looking at his surroundings. "I can't believe it…" Kuzco murmured as he saw that he too was trapped in some sort of prison cell, his arms and legs strapped to the wall. "Pacha!" He called out, but only received his echo as a response.

"Jila! Haru?" he called out again, but there was still no sound. "Rion! I'm really sorry I didn't believe you!" He shouted, as if trying to coax them into saving him even though they weren't there. "I-I'm…really sorry that I…threw you in prison…"

Kuzco sighed, defeated, and looked at the ground as he felt a deep depression come over him.

"_You know what…?" Pacha spoke up and Kuzco turned his head. "One day, you're going to end up all alone, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself."_

Kuzco hid his head, his eyelids low, and his spirit lower.

"Kuzco!"

His head snapped up as he saw none other then Pacha running towards him, Jila, Haru, and Rion in pursuit.

"We found you!" Pacha smiled.

"Y-you guys actually came to save me?" Kuzco asked in disbelief as the three children searched around for the keys. "After all I did to you?"

"It was Pacha's idea," Jila remarked. "Not ours."

"He's got a heart of gold," laughed Haru. "I'll tell you that much."

"I'm really sorry!" Kuzco exclaimed as Rion started to unlock the restraints on his arms and legs. "I was a big jerk. I should have believed you!"

"There's no time for apologies," Pacha exclaimed. "We've got to get you changed back before Yzma swarms the entire Empire with the Heartless!"

"Pacha's right!" Jila nodded. "Where's Yzma's…" she paused, and then used her fingers for quotation marks, ""secret lab"?"

"I-I know the way!" Kuzco told them. "It's down the stairs! C'mon, Yzma's probably already got lots of Heartless in the Palace!"

"Right!" Jila shouted. "Let's go!"

* * *

"HYAH!" Haru shouted as he knocked a few Soldier Heartless off the staircase they were traveling one. Slowly but surely, the Heartless had been coming after them as the llama emperor and the four humans behind him rushed down to Yzma's "secret lab". 

"THUNDER!" Rion cried, sending a group of Heartless careening off the staircases into the black abyss. They continued to run down at top speed, not looking at the enemies behind them.

"We're almost there!" the Emperor panted. "It's just down a few more steps!"

The five reached the end of the spiral staircase where an ornament with two tusks for levers awaited them. "There! Pull the lever!" Kuzco reached the lever, only to stop suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Jila asked. "Why aren't you pulling the lever?"

"It's a set up gag," Kuzco sighed, reaching for the other lever. "Sorry folks, we're cutting right to the chase."

He pulled down on the lever and the five were stuffed into a small car. "Please keep your hands, legs, and arms inside the vehicle at all times…" said a voice.

"That's kind of tough!" shout Haru, who was now being squished by a llama and his older brother.

The car began to drive down a loopy path, much like a roller coaster very quickly. Jila thought she was going to be sick. Rion _knew_ he was going to be sick. Haru _was_ sick.

But soon, they were spit out of the car onto the ground, Emperor Kuzco sharing a huge labcoat with Jila and Haru, and Rion stuffed into an overly tight coat on Pacha. They stripped the clothes off and ran straight for a potions cabinet.

"Look in there!" Kuzco told them, opening the cabinet. "Look for the human potion!"

"I-I can't find it!" Jila exclaimed, searching through all the potions along with the other four.

"There!" Haru pointed to the human potion spot and then looked up. "But--"

"Looking for this?" a familiar slimy voice called from the shadows. The children looked up and gasped as they saw Yzma and Kronk come towards them, the potion clutched in Yzma's hand.

"Yzma! Hand over the potion!" Jila demanded as she and her brothers drew their Keyblades.

"Not on your life, brat!" Yzma shot back. "KRONK! Attack them!" She pointed defiantly and Kronk paused.

Yzma sighed. "KRONK!"

"All right, all right!" he sighed, shaking his head. He then ran forward, as did the children and Kuzco, ready for a fight.

Kronk, however big and strong he was, was a bit of a pushover. The children only had to hit him with their Keyblades a few times.

"Woohoo!" cried the llama Emperor. A back kick from Kuzco sent Kronk careening into the wall, ending the fight.

"Well, now that THAT'S taken care of," Kuzco smirked and turned to Yzma, who was currently slamming her palm to her face.

"Kronk, you imbecile!" she growled. "Fine! HEARTLESS!" She snapped her fingers, and all around her, Heartless began to pop out of the ground, awaiting her command. "Attack those Keyblade Wielders!"

The Heartless did as they were told and ran forward at the children. Others swarmed around them, heading for Pacha and the Emperor.

"There's too many of them!" Kuzco shouted, doing his best to kick them away. "What do we do?"

"Just keep going!" Jila shouted, slicing at another Heartless with her sword, destroying it. "We'll hold down the fort here!" She slid to the ground as a Powerwild kicked her, but she quickly got up and slashed it again.

"THUNDER!" Rion called, once again destroying an entire ring of Heartless. He turned to Yzma, who was now giving the potion to a Powerwild guarded by a mass army of Shadow Heartless. "Kuzco! Those Heartless have the potion!"

"Let's get Yzma!" Jila told her brothers and then turned to Pacha and Kuzco. "You two get the potion!"

"Right!" they nodded and then ran off towards the army of Heartless while the three children faced off against Yzma.

"Foolish brats!" Yzma snarled. "You can't beat me! Eat this!" Yzma produced from her dress many vials full of explosive liquid. She threw them at the children, one of them hitting Jila.

"AARGH!" Jila fell back into the cabinet, spilling the vials of potion onto the ground.

"Jila!" Rion called, but he too was thrown back by another one of Yzma's explosive potions.

"Rion, Jila, are you guys okay?" Haru asked, sidestepping a potion thrown.

"We're fine!" Rion remarked, helping his sister up. "But as long as she got those things to throw at us, the entire place is a mine field!"

Jila frowned, as did Rion. They were trying to think of a way to avoid the bombs while still getting close enough to damage on Yzma.

Haru suddenly smiled. "I've got it!" he cried. "I know what to do!"

"Idiot!" Yzma screamed, throwing a vial at Haru. "You let your guard down! Prepare to be blown to pieces!"

"I don't think so!" Haru grinned, holding out his red-handled Keyblade. "That's my line! PROTECTIVE WARD!"

The ward appeared around the explosive vial, making a shield for when it did explode. The pieces of glass and energy was harmlessly kept inside the bubble. Yzma looked dumbstruck.

"I'll handle the bombs!" Haru told his siblings. "PROTECTIVE WARD!" He threw the technique at another bomb, reducing it to a firecracker as well. "You guys go get Yzma!"

"Right!" they nodded, then looked at one another, smiling.

"I'll go in straight for the kill!" Jila told him. "You stand back and fire magic!"

"Right," Rion nodded to his younger sister. "Be careful!"

"Hey, it's me," Jila grinned. "Of course I'll be careful!" With that, she turned her foot and sprinted in, Haru still fusing out Yzma's homemade bombs.

"THUNDER!" Rion called, throwing the spell at Yzma. She stepped back just in time to avoid it, but not avoid Jila's sword slash.

"ARRGH!" Yzma cried as she was knocked to the ground right in front of the potion cabinet. "You little brats! You'll pay for that!" She chucked another vial straight at Jila, only to have Haru shield it just in time. "Fine!" Yzma cried, and the next thing the children knew, she had ten vials in her fingers, ready to be thrown. "See if you can block ten at once!"

"I can do better then that!" Haru grinned as the bombs were thrown. "PROTECTIVE WARD!" he cried. He closed his eyes and the shield began to expand from one bomb, to three, to five, to seven, to nine, to…

"Eleven?" Jila asked, looking up. "But Yzma only threw ten!"

"Eat this!" Haru cried loudly. His siblings looked at him, wondering what amazing attack that their brother would pull off next! "Diffuse."

The ward dropped, as did the bombs. Straight on Yzma's head.

"ARRGHH!" Yzma screamed as huge explosion went off. A cloud of smoke filled the room, and the children closed their eyes. When the smoke had cleared, the children looked up and gasped.

"Meow?"

Yzma was now a small kitty cat. Obviously, Haru had accidentally picked up a potion from the cabinet along with the ten explosive potions that Yzma had thrown. When Yzma had been exposed to the potion, it had changed her into a very cute, very sooty, and very tired looking cat. "Meow…you little brats!" she squeaked. "This isn't over yet! All I need is that potion and--!"

"Oops!" Jila grinned as she slammed her Keyblade on the cat's head, knocking it out. "My hand slipped!"

"Oh well," Rion smiled at his sister. "You never really were a cat person."

"Speaking of the potion…" Haru turned his head. "Where are the Emperor and Pacha?" The children looked at the other side of the room and gasped to see the two fighting off the Heartless at opposite sides of the lab, trying to get to the Powerwild that held the Human Potion. They had been squared off into two group, and Kuzco was finishing his off pretty well. But Pacha was having trouble, as he had no weapon except his bare hands.

"Almost got it, Pacha!" Kuzco cried. The children gasped as Shadows began to pop up around Pacha, attacking him as well. "I've almost got the potion!" Kuzco kicked away another Heartless, leaving only a few between him and the potion. The Powerwild looked at the potion and rose it into the air, as if to drop it. "Hey! Don't drop that!"

"Kuzco, look!" Jila screamed, pointing to Pacha. Kuzco turned his head to see Pacha now being engulfed by the Heartless. "There are too many! Help him Kuzco!"

"No time, let's go!" Rion shouted and sprinted forward, only to be cut off by a gate slamming down in front of them, blocking them off. "What the? Who did that?"

"Look!" Jila pointed to a stray Powerwild Heartless on the other side of the gate who had just pulled a switch. "It was that Heartless! Dang it! It'll take a while to break through this thing!"

"Kuzco!" Pacha screamed as the Heartless continued to attack. "Kuzco, help!"

"Be right there!" Kuzco shouted, kicking off another obstacle in his way for the potion.

"Kuzco!"

"Give me a minute!" Kuzco gulped, looking back and forth between Pacha and the potion. He was biting his lower lip and was reaching for the potion.

"KUZCO!" Pacha screamed as he felt his head go under the black abyss.

"HYAH!"

The next thing Pacha knew, a giant tug had thrust him out of the darkness and back into the lab. He looked up to see none other then Kuzco battling off the Heartless around Pacha.

"You saved me!" Pacha smiled.

"Of course I did!" Kuzco said as he kicked away the last shadow. "What do you think I was going to do, just stand there?"

"The potion!" Pacha gasped, remembering their purpose. "Where is it?"

"HYAH!"

Kuzco and Pacha looked over to see none other then the three children slamming their swords down on the Powerwild Heartless. It disappeared and dropped the potion, which Rion caught in free hand. "You guys!" Kuzco grinned.

"No big whoop," Jila bragged, pointing to the now sliced gate. "We've broken through gates loads of times."

"I can vouch for that," Pacha laughed and Jila and Haru smiled at one another.

Rion, however, stepped forward with the potion and handed it to the Emperor. The Emperor smiled and clicked his hooves together. Rion sighed and opened up the potion. He handed it to Kuzco and Kuzco gave him and Pacha a smile. "Well guys. See you later." With that, he took the potion and drank a huge gulp.

* * *

"Kronk, this is all your fault!" cried the shrill voice of the cat Yzma, now locked up in a tiny cage with a litter box on the side. Kronk was next to her, waving goodbye as she was taken out of the palace. 

"Kronk wasn't arrested too?" Jila asked Kuzco, now in his human form and wearing his emperor robes. It was the first time the children had seen Kuzco human, but he roughly resembled his llama self with long black hair and a skinny build.

"Ahh, I decided to pardon the guy," Kuzco shrugged, smiling. "After all, he was just following orders. He's too stupid to be really bad."

"Bye Yzma!" Kronk called, waving. "Watch out for dogs, okay?"

"You've got that right," Rion laughed.

"Come on guys," Kuzco ushered them into the Great Hall where his throne sat. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Huh?" Jila looked up. "A surprise? What's that?"

"It's something that you don't expect," Rion explained, smirking at his sister.

"I know what a surprise _is_," she remarked testily. "I mean, what's the surprise?"

Kuzco led the children and Pacha over to what looked like a miniature set up of a hill with many tiny houses on it. At the top of the hill was a huge golden palace, and many broken houses lay at the bottom. "Is that…Kuzco-topia?" Haru asked, pointing to the golden house.

"Yeah," Kuzco said, smacking his lips together. "Actually, I've decided to give you guys this." He took off the huge golden palace and put it into Rion's hand. "You guys have that weird ship outside, right? Use it as an ornament or something."

"We can't use this as an or--" Jila began, but then stopped and gasped, as did the rest of the group. Pacha stepped forward.

"D-does this mean…" Pacha asked. "That you've changed your mind?"

"Uh, yeah," Kuzco nodded, doing his best to remain as sarcastic as possible. "These three here," Kuzco put his arms around the three children, making them look at each other with confused expressions, "gave me a _better_ recommendation for a Summer Home location. I'm afraid your dinky little hill just doesn't cut it."

Pacha smiled widely and then threw his gigantic arms around the Emperor, knocking the three children from his grasp. Kuzco paused, then patted Pacha on the back. "Hey, big guy, no need to get all sentimental in front of the kids." He laughed, breaking apart from Pacha and placing one of the broken house models on the top of the hill. "Oh! Speaking of which! Kids, I've got something to show you. Come here," he pulled the three children's arms across the room and towards a door. He turned to Pacha. "You wait here, okay?"

"You got it," Pacha nodded, still smiling at the hill.

"Good!" Kuzco smiled and shut the door, leaving Pacha alone with the hill and his newly saved home.

"I knew there was some good in him," Pacha smiled.

"But unfortunately, not as much good as you."

The room became pitch black, and Pacha gasped, stepping back from shock. "Wh-who's there?"

"Heart of gold…" murmured the voice, smiling. "I couldn't agree more with you, little Keyblade Defender. In fact…so gold that it makes a Keychain."

"Answer me!" Pacha cried. "Who's there?"

"I'm afraid Kuzco's heart was strong enough, but yours has the qualities of a Keychain. I knew that fool Yzma couldn't possibly have disposed of you, but I thought that the Keyblade wielders would have been less of a problem."

"Show yourself!" Pacha cried, but was cut short by a long appendage being thrust through his chest. He screamed, and then fell without another word.

His attacker pulled out the long appendage to reveal, as always, a Keychain attached to the end of it. The keychain depicted a golden palace with a hill behind it. The assailant smiled wickedly to himself or herself and placed the Keychain next to the Wonderland one. "Lovely progress…just lovely."

Light filled the room again, and there was no one there but Pacha, lying on the ground, white as a sheet, eyes wide and pupils small.

* * *

"Uhh…what are these?" Jila asked, fingering the golden dress she had on. Kuzco had given them all very elaborate outfits and was smiling widely as they came out dressed in them. Rion was wearing a blue sparkling shirt and pants, while Haru was dressed in red. 

"You guys look great," Kuzco smiled. "I'm giving you management positions in the Palace. It's the least I can do for you after you saved my life."

"Management positions?" Jila asked, frowning.

"Emperor Kuzco…" Rion murmured. "We can't stay here."

"Huh?" Kuzco asked, looking at them with odd expressions. "B-But I thought you guys were going to live in the castle with me."

"We're searching for something ourselves," Haru told him. "Our Mom and our Dad. Along with…umm…others."

"Well no big whoop," Kuzco laughed. "I'll just send out a search party. We'll find them in no time!"

"They're…not here," Jila said softly. "Not anywhere in this world."

"This…world?" Kuzco asked as she saw the three children take off the clothes. They were back in their old outfits, their Keyblades drawn. "What are you talking about?"

"You really changed Kuzco," Rion smiled. "We're touched that you care about us enough to give us a home when you know we've got no place to go."

"But we _do_ have a place to go," Jila said. "We're just not sure where yet."

Kuzco smiled and shrugged. "I'm not getting it all," he sighed, "but you guys seem set on turning me down. Not cool. Oh well, keep the outfits. You look good in them."

"Thanks Kuzco," Haru smiled. "That means a lot to--"

The children were cut off by an ear splitting scream from the other room. "That sounded like Pacha!" Kuzco said, alarmed. "Let's go!"

The three ran for the door and threw it open, but no one was there except Pacha lying on the ground.

"Pacha!" The Emperor cried, running towards his fallen friend. "He's unconscious! Someone, get the Palace doctor!"

"Kuzco, he's not unconscious," Rion said, shaking his head as the three siblings looked down at Pacha. "He's…he's lost his heart."

"What?" Kuzco looked up. "What the heck are you guys talking about?"

"Pacha was a Keychain holder!" Jila gasped.

"But I thought only the rulers of the worlds could have Keychains," Haru asked. "Like King Mickey."

"So it wasn't Kuzco…" Rion muttered.

"You guys are starting to make me mad!" Kuzco said, standing up. "Explain this right now!"

"His heart's been stolen," Rion said. "By someone who's been going to all the worlds and stealing strong hearts called "Keychains". That's why we're traveling, to put a stop to it and find the culprit."

"This is all my fault!" Kuzco shook his head. "I should have known there was more danger from the Heartless!"

"It's not your fault," Jila shook her head. "And don't worry. We'll get Pacha's heart back."

"I'm going with you!" Kuzco announced, walking towards the back of the throne room. "Just let me get my traveling clothes and--"

"Kuzco…you can't go," Rion said, stopping Kuzco in his tracks. He turned around and looked down at Pacha. "You've got to stay here, where you belong! This place needs you now more then ever!"

"We don't belong here, Kuzco," Haru said. "But don't worry. We'll save Pacha, and everyone else whose heart was stolen."

Kuzco looked reluctant, but he slowly nodded his head. "Okay guys, I'm counting on you. See you later, got that?"

"You've got it Kuzco!" Jila nodded. "We'll definitely catch you later!"

"See you on the flip side!" Kuzco smiled and waved as the three children made their way out of the golden doors towards their ship.

* * *

"You know…" Jila said, fingering her golden dress as the three took off for the next world. "This dress is really nice. I never got a dress this nice." 

"That's because Mom and Dad always bought you pants," Haru joked. "You don't have enough cleavage to look good in a dress."

"ARRGH! I'll get you for that!"

"Rion! Help! I think Jila's been possessed by a Heartless!"

"Hey, next time we have a big party somewhere," Rion smiled to his two siblings. "We can wear these and brag that they're imported."

"You bet!" Jila nodded. "All the cute guys will flock to me!"

"Maybe in a million years," Haru snorted, and Jila growled.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"HEY! DON'T HIT!"

* * *

There it is! Hope you all enjoyed it! Please don't forget to review! These chapters take so long to write!

Omake: Character Profile

Name: Haru  
Age: 14  
Hair: Dark Brown  
Eyes: Brown

Haru is the middle child, and is the same age as Sora in Kingdom Hearts. He's really supposed to be his mother's child. He looks the most like Kairi, with his brown hair with reddish tints. I decided that the middle child should also be a boy, to exemplify Jila as the "little sister". Not that Haru is just a filler.

Haru is taking Goofy's spot in the fact that he's the most light hearted of the group. He likes to crack jokes, but he can also be extremely serious, especially around his elder brother, Rion.

As for his name, I remember, I was reading fanfiction once and I came across the name "Haru". I remember that it just kind of called to me and I liked it. So, Haru's name (which was originally Spiler all you SOW fans) was born.

Okay, before I get any reviews, nobody give me grief that Kuzco actually lives in Peru. It will make me go blah. The "Deep Jungle" is on Earth too, but it got its own world, so HA! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

Until then,

Ciao for now!


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